প্রকাশ: 14/02/2022
Ukraine on Sunday vowed to keep its airspace open and
international travellers safe despite Western warnings that Russian troops conducting massive drills near its borders could
invade at any point.
The looming threat of the skies over Ukraine closing came
with a growing number of Western countries winding down their diplomatic operations
in Kyiv and urging their citizens to leave immediately.
It follows a frantic week of urgent but seemingly futile
diplomatic efforts to resolve one of the most explosive standoffs between the West
and Russia since the Cold War.
US President Joe Biden was due to brief Ukrainian leader
Volodymyr Zelensky later on Sunday about his hour-long phone conversation with Russia's
Vladimir Putin.
The White House reported there had been no breakthrough
during Saturday's talks with the Kremlin chief.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he had agreed "to
continue dialogue" with Putin in his own telephone conversation that same
day.
Western leaders are pushing back against Putin's demands
that the US-led NATO alliance withdraw from eastern Europe and never expand into
Ukraine.
But Putin is dismissing calls by Biden and others to pull
back Russian forces from Ukraine's frontiers.
Washington has warned that the Russian deployments -- estimated
at 130,000 soldiers backed by various missiles and tanks – was sufficient to
launch a major attack "any day".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on the eve of a crunch
trip to Kyiv Monday and Moscow Tuesday that Western allies would
"immediately" sanction Russia if it invades.
"In the event of a military aggression against Ukraine
that threatens its territorial integrity and sovereignty that will lead to tough
sanctions that we have carefully prepared," Scholz said.
- Memories of MH17 -
The Dutch carrier KLM on Saturday became the first major
airline to indefinitely suspend flights to the former Soviet republic because
of the rising risks.
Ukraine's budget airline SkyUp said on Sunday that its flight
from Portugal to Kyiv was forced to land in Moldova because the plane's Irish
leasing company had revoked permission for it to cross into Ukraine.
SkyUP added that European leasing companies were demanding
that Ukrainian airlines return their planes to EU airspace within 48 hours.
Ukraine's infrastructure ministry responded by holding an
emergency meeting aimed at maintaining foreign travel and keeping the country from
becoming more isolated in the heat of the crisis.
"The airspace over Ukraine remains open and the state
is working on preempting risks for airlines," the ministry said after the
meeting.
Industry analysts believe other international airlines may
soon also ban flights into Ukraine because of the growing cost to insurers.
The travel industry is still haunted by the memory of
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 being shot down while flying near eastern Ukraine's
conflict zone in July 2014.
All 298 passengers aboard the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight
died.
Ukraine's infrastructure ministry acknowledged that
"some carriers are facing difficulties linked to fluctuations on the
insurance market".
"For its part, the state is prepared to support airlines
and provide them with additional financial guarantees in order to support the market,"
it said.
- Foreigners fleeing -
The worries about air travel come with a growing number of
Western governments winding down their missions and advising citizens to get out.
The US State Department on Saturday ordered all
non-emergency embassy staff out of Ukraine.
Russia cited fears of "possible provocations from the
Kyiv regime" as it also began pulling out some embassy staff.
"I am leaving because of the situation, because I value
my life," Moroccan native Aimrane Bouziane said before boarding his flight
home.
"I think the soundest choice to make is to leave
Ukraine now," the 23-year-old entrepreneur said.
The diplomatic drawdown has touched the staff of the
Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) monitoring mission in
Ukraine.
The OSCE has served as the world's eyes and ears for the
eight-year conflict across Ukraine's Russian-backed separatist east that has claimed
more than 14,000 lives.
But images on social media showed convoys of its white SUVs
leaving various parts of the conflict zone as staff moved to comply with their respective
governments' travel advisories.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on
Sunday that the mission's partial withdrawal caused "serious concern"
in Moscow because the move further ramped up tensions.
The Ukrainian government has been trying to preempt the
flood of foreigners leaving the country by calling for calm and criticising US warnings
of possibly imminent war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that "all this information is only provoking panic and not helping us".
প্রধান সম্পাদকঃ সৈয়দ বোরহান কবীর
ক্রিয়েটিভ মিডিয়া লিমিটেডের অঙ্গ প্রতিষ্ঠান
বার্তা এবং বাণিজ্যিক কার্যালয়ঃ ২/৩ , ব্লক - ডি , লালমাটিয়া , ঢাকা -১২০৭
নিবন্ধিত ঠিকানাঃ বাড়ি# ৪৩ (লেভেল-৫) , রোড#১৬ নতুন (পুরাতন ২৭) , ধানমন্ডি , ঢাকা- ১২০৯
ফোনঃ +৮৮-০২৯১২৩৬৭৭