Europe and Canada move to close skies to Russian planes – The Peninsula Qatar

Europe and Canada move to close skies to Russian planes – The Peninsula Qatar

European nations and Canada moved on Sunday to shut their airspace to Russian aircraft, an unprecedented step aimed at pressuring President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.

The ban on Russian jets comes as the airline industry continues to grapple with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic that is still undermining global demand for travel.

Germany, Spain and France joined Britain, the Nordics and Baltic states in declaring bans on Russian use of their airspace, a major escalation in a tactic by mostly NATO allies to wage economic war against Putin in retaliation for the invasion.

The West, led by the United States, also unveiled sweeping new financial sanctions on Russia, which has called its assault on Ukraine a "special operation" to capture "neo-Nazis" who Putin says threaten Russia's security - a charge Kyiv and Western governments say is baseless propaganda.

Russia is now widely expected to retaliate further against the air blockades and other sanctions. It has already responded to the earliest European airspace bans with its own edicts barring airlines from Britain, Bulgaria and Poland.

Without access to Russia's airways, experts say carriers will have to divert flights south while