LESS than 72 hours after announcing the embargo on the Russian international reserve, the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, has banned Russian aircraft from the American airspace.
During his first State of the Nation address on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET, President Biden announced that the Russian-owned and -operated aircraft would no longer be allowed on the U.S. airspace.
“Tonight, I am announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights. You [Putin] have no idea what is coming,” Biden said amidst thunderous applause.
In his one-hour-two-minute speech, President Biden also pledged that his administration would find and seize the yachts, luxury apartments, and private jets of Russian oligarchs.
“We are coming for their ill-begotten gains,” he declared.
Earlier, European, UK and Canadian authorities have prohibited Russian aircraft from flying across their airspace.
“Our European skies are open skies. They are open for those who connect people, not for those who seek to brutally aggress,” Alexander De Croo, Belgium’s prime minister, said on Twitter.
Credit: Reuters
Russia had responded similarly, banning flights from 36 countries, including all 27 members of the European Union.
The United States pledged to continue to impose sanctions on Russia for its war against Ukraine.
“We share with our partners and allies unity of purpose, resolve, and determination to hold Russia to account for its aggression, particularly those responsible for this war of choice,” the State Department noted in a statement.
The Ukraine-Russian war started on Thursday, February 24.
Ajibola Amzat, Managing Editor at The ICIR. He can be reached via aaamzat@icirnigeria.org
and @ajibolaamzat on Twitter.