From Yahoo:
“Biden banning all Russian
aircraft from entering U.S. airspace in retaliation for invasion of Ukraine”
(President Biden delivers his
State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol on
March 1.)
During his first State of the
Union address on Tuesday, President Biden announced that the U.S. would ban all
Russian aircraft from entering American airspace, in retaliation for the
ongoing military assault on Ukraine. “Tonight, I'm announcing that we will join
our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights, further
isolating Russia and adding an additional squeeze on their economy,” he said. The
president’s announcement follows similar moves by Canada and the European Union
to ban Russian planes from entering their airspace. While stopping short of
committing ground troops or enacting a no-fly zone over Ukraine, the U.S. and
its allies have already imposed stern sanctions against Russia — including
directly targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov — as global condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine continues to grow. Biden
also said that he was prepared to continue to implement further sanctions and
economic hardships on Putin’s government. “He has no idea what’s coming,” Biden
said.
On Sunday, European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was closing off its airspace for
Russian-controlled or -owned jets — a move that came as many member countries
made plans to shut down their own fly zones to such aircraft. France, Britain,
Austria, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Estonia, among others, joined in the
airspace ban in protest. "There is no place for planes of the aggressor
state in democratic skies," Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tweeted. Omar
Alghabra, the transport minister of Canada, said on Sunday they’d close off
their airspace as well, planning to hold Russia accountable for the recent
invasion of Ukraine, which Biden has called a “needless act of aggression
against global peace and security.” On Monday, Putin banned airlines from
dozens of nations, including from the EU, from flying over Russia’s airspace,
in retaliation for the countries’ bans.
In his address to the nation,
Biden also made clear that he was prepared to use the U.S. military to protect
other NATO members, including those former Soviet-era republics that recently
joined. “As I've made crystal clear, the United States and our allies will
defend every inch of territory that is NATO territory with the full force of
our collective power — every single inch,” Biden said. Yet as he spoke, Russian
troops continued their advance in Ukraine.
^ It's about time we joined
Canada, the UK, all 27 countries of the EU in banning Russian Planes from our
airspace. ^
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