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TEHRAN, Apr 04- The Ukrainian government has banned all unscheduled direct flights to Russia following a recent visit to Moscow by two opposition politicians.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced the ban on Wednesday and said opposition presidential candidate Yuriy Boyko and chairman of the political council of the ‘Opposition Platform – For Life’ alliance Viktor Medvedchuk used a “loophole in our legislation” to take direct flight to the Russian capital in March.
The two Ukrainian opposition figures had met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Alexey Miller, the CEO of the Gazprom energy giant, on March 22 prior to the presidential election, for talks on ways to restore economic ties.
“He [Boyko] took advantage of a loophole in our legislation, got the green light from Russia’s FSB (Federal Security Service), and flew from Kyiv to Moscow for talks with the aggressor state’s prime minister; therefore, we propose a resolution to amend regulations on the use of the Ukrainian airspace,” Ukrainian media cited Avakov as saying.
Direct flights between Russia and Ukraine were canceled in October 2015 as part of a mutual ban imposed by Kiev and Moscow, a year after a bloody crisis broke out in Ukraine’s eastern Russian-speaking regions, where the Ukrainian military has been fighting with pro-Russia forces.
The Ukrainian minister further said the ban would not apply to flights that might be arranged for international organizations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations and the Red Cross.
Source:presstv
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