Strengthening sanctions against Russia: a ban on aviation transit through EU airspace is needed
The Council of the EU has decided to extend the sanctions regime against Russia for another six months until September 15, 2024, updating the listings for 97 individuals and nine legal entities.
Meanwhile, the European Union is preparing its 14th package of sanctions against Russia, and in the USA, efforts are underway to identify ways in which Russia circumvents them and to try to prevent this. At the same time, Ukrainian officials propose adding a ban on aviation transit through the EU to the Russian Federation and Belarus to the restrictions.
«The main goal of the sanctions is to reduce the economic and military potential of the aggressor. Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have implemented a large number of restrictions. However, Russia has adapted and found many ways to circumvent them over the past two years. In particular, the focus has been on maritime routes through which Russia exports its energy resources, earning funds to finance aggression. At the same time, the issue of transit of aircraft through EU airspace has been completely overlooked», Denys Kostrzhevskyi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Airport «Kyiv», is convinced.
He believes that the call by the Prime Minister of Ukraine to European colleagues to introduce a ban on aviation transit to the Russian Federation and Belarus is absolutely logical.
«It is necessary to restrict the logistics of Russians everywhere – at sea, on land, and in the air. And although aviation transport is not crucial for Russia today, these restrictions will still be felt by the economy of the aggressor country and its satellite, Belarus», Kostrzhevskyi says.
So there is hope that support from European partners regarding this issue will be forthcoming, and restrictions will be adopted in the near future.
«However, it is worth considering not only the ideas of direct sanctions against Russia. For example, in Toronto Airport (Canada), there is a detained Russian aircraft, the «Antei». Also, there are many similar confiscated or detained Russian aircraft around the world. Perhaps it is worth considering a model under which they would benefit Ukraine? For instance, transferring these aircraft to Ukrainian airlines for the delivery of humanitarian cargo to Ukraine», noted Denys Kostrzhevskyi.
We will remind: in 2022, severe sanctions were applied to the Russian aviation industry: most of the civilized world closed the sky to Russian planes, and some lessors demanded the return of their planes. Russia did not return anything and actually seized the planes illegally.