As the conflict in Ukraine continues, western countries also continue to take a stand with the country and introduce various sanctions against Russia.
On Sunday, Canada’s Minister of Transport and Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that the federal government will be closing Canada’s airspace to all Russian aircraft operators.
This prohibits the operation of Russian-owned, chartered or operated aircraft in Canadian airspace, including the airspace above Canada’s territorial waters.
The decision came into effect Sunday morning and will remain until further notice.
“All of Canada is united in its outrage of President Putin’s aggression against Ukraine,” said Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra in a statement.
“The Government of Canada condemns Russia’s aggressive actions and we will continue to take action to stand with Ukraine.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, added that Canada will continue to work against Russia’s aggression and with allies to “bring this unprovoked war to an end.”
Effective immediately, Canada’s airspace is closed to all Russian aircraft operators. We will hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks against Ukraine.
— Omar Alghabra (@OmarAlghabra) February 27, 2022
On Sunday, the European Union (EU) also announced additional measures in response to the attack on Ukraine.
In a “watershed moment” the EU announced Sunday, that for the first time ever, it will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack.
President von der Leyen also announced that the EU’s airspace would also be closed to all Russian-owned, registered or controlled aircraft.
The EU is now working to “develop tools” to ban Russia’s media platforms in an effort to disinformation.
“The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war and to saw division in our Union,” said von der Leyen in a statement.
Additionally, the EU has introduced a number of sanctions against Belarus – citing the country’s complicit behaviour.
The EU will introduce various restrictive measures against industries in Belarus including stopping “their exports of products from mineral fuels to tobacco, wood and timber, cement, iron and steel.”
Finally, both the EU and Canada are working to exclude Russia from the SWIFT system with the goal of banning transactions of Russia’s central bank and freezing its assets.
We are stepping up our support for Ukraine.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 27, 2022
For the first time, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment to a country under attack.
We are also strengthening our sanctions against the Kremlin.
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