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President Joe Biden's announcement closing U.S. airspace to Russian aircraft is a strong message of support to its European allies against Russian aggression.
The U.S. will be joining a growing number of countries closing their skies to Russia following President Vladimir Putin's Ukraine misadventure.
President Joe Biden made the announcement at the State of the Union saying the U.S. will ban Russian aircraft from U.S. airspace, a CNN report said.
"Tonight, I'm announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights, further isolating Russia and adding additional squeeze on their economy," the President said.
'Leave immediately'
The State Department has been urging Americans in Russia to consider leaving immediately while there are still commercial flights out of the country.
U.S. officials reckon Americans can continue getting out of Russia even if Russian aircraft stops flying to the U.S. They could include train and road options out of Russia.
The number of countries banning Russian overflight has been increasing after Russian troops marched into Ukraine on February 24. The U.S. joins Canada and the European Union in closing off its airspace to Russian aircraft. Several European countries -- including Germany, France and Italy – announced the overflight ban for Russian aircraft even before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the entire E.U. closing off the airspace to Russian planes.
Passenger and cargo flights
The official notification banning Russian aircraft from U.S. airspace could come as early as Wednesday, according to Federal Aviation Administration officials. Scheduled passenger flights and cargo and charter flights will be hit by the ban.
"The United States stands with our allies across the world in responding to Putin's unprovoked aggression against the people of Ukraine," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.
The move is the latest retaliatory measure against Putin for launching an unprovoked full-scale invasion into Ukraine.
Source: CNN
Photo courtesy: Reuters