Canada closes airspace to Russian aircraft: transport minister
By Michael Lee, CTVNews.ca writer
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TORONTO, Ontario (CTV Network) — Canada has closed its airspace to Russian aircraft, effective immediately.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra made the announcement on Twitter Sunday, saying Canada’s airspace will be closed to all Russian aircraft operators.
“We will hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks against Ukraine.”
Canada’s move comes as other European nations banned Russian planes from entering their own airspaces, including Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Luxembourg, over the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has since closed its airspace to many of those same countries, as fighting between its forces and Ukraine continued for a fourth day Sunday. Prior to Canada’s announcement, Russia’s flagship carrier Aeroflot operated multiple flights per day through Canadian airspace en route to the U.S. and elsewhere.
The United Kingdom suspended Aeroflot’s foreign carrier permit on Thursday. Canada has joined its allies in imposing a number of sanctions on Russia, targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov specifically.
Trudeau also said Canada would support the removal of Russia from the digital payment and messaging network SWIFT, which connects thousands of banks worldwide. On Saturday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke to Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shymal to express their solidarity with the Ukrainian people, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
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