The United States has approved a flight chartered by Moscow to fly out Russian diplomats who were expelled this week from their posts at the United Nations over U.S. national security concerns and alleged abuse of their privileges of residence.
They’ve been stuck in America after Joe Biden banned all Russian aircraft from entering the country’s airspace.
‘This special exception was done in accordance with federal regulations to ensure Russian mission personnel and their families departed by the date we had instructed,’ a state department spokesperson said on Saturday.
A Rossiya Special Flight Squadron is flying to Washington from St. Petersburg to bring the New York City-based diplomats to Russia.
Russia has denied the allegations against its diplomats and says it will retaliate for their expulsion.
‘This plane will bring back home the Russian diplomats whom the Government of the United States has declared personae non grata,’ Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said over messaging app Telegram.
According to tracking website FlightAware, the charter flight is due to arrive at Dulles International Airport, located outside of D.C., shortly after 2pm. The plane had to re-route itself north of Europe to avoid flying through banned airspace.
Tensions have flared between Washington and Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine a week ago, fueling Europe’s biggest humanitarian disaster in decades.
The U.S., Canada, European Union, U.K., and some other countries have closed their airspace to Russia as part of a package of punitive measures against the nation. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a ‘special operation.’
President Joe Biden announced the U.S. was closing its airspace to all Russian aircraft during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
‘Tonight I am announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American air space to all Russian flights – further isolating Russia and adding an additional squeeze on their economy,’ the president told Congress, adding: ‘Putin is now isolated from the world more than he has ever been.’
On Saturday, Russia’s state aviation authority recommended Russian airlines with foreign-leased aircraft to suspend flights of passengers and cargo abroad from Russia from March 6 and from foreign countries to Russia starting on March 8.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met virtually with the U.S. Congress and pressed Washington for more assistance fighting the invasion of his country.
The full Senate and House were invited to participate in the Zoom meeting that lasted roughly an hour, as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces push toward the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the invasion enters its second week.
In the meeting, Zelensky repeated his plea for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country to blunt Russian air superiority, and requested tougher sanctions against Russia and increased military aid, according to sources familiar with the matter.
However, the Biden administration and lawmakers from both parties have expressed strong opposition to the idea of a no-fly zone, because enforcing it would require shooting down Russian planes, drawing NATO into direct conflict with Russia.
Putin on Saturday underlined the stakes involved, saying that any country trying to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine will be considered a participant in the conflict.
