SWISS Suspends Flights to Ukraine Until End of February - Spokesperson

© RIA Novosti . Aleksey Babushkin / Go to the mediabankВ международном аэропорту Цюриха
В международном аэропорту Цюриха - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.02.2022
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ZURICH (Sputnik) - Swiss Air Lines (SWISS) is suspending flights between Zurich and Kiev for the rest of the month, amid an escalation of hostilities in southeastern Ukraine, a representative of Switzerland's flag carrier told Sputnik.
According to the SWISS spokesperson, the national airline is focused on ensuring the safety of passengers and crew and will be suspending flights between Zurich and the Ukrainian capital starting Monday, February 21, until the end of the month (February 28).
The airline's spokesperson told Sputnik on Sunday that SWISS remains in contact with the Ukrainian authorities and is closely monitoring the situation in the country.
On Saturday, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) urged Swiss nationals to leave the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in Ukraine’s southeast (Donbas) amid escalations on the contact line.
According to the FDFA, Switzerland is ready to support dialogue aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict peacefully. Pierre-Alain Eltschinger, a spokesman for the Swiss foreign ministry, told Sputnik on Friday that Switzerland is ready to host a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The Donetsk and Lugansk self-proclaimed people's republics (DPR and LPR) have been reporting continued shelling of Donbas settlements by Kiev forces for the past several days. LPR and DPR announced the evacuation of their citizens to Russia’s Rostov Region on Friday.
Western countries and Kiev have been accusing Russia of preparing for an alleged "invasion" of Ukraine. Moscow has denied these accusations, repeatedly stating that it is not threatening anyone and at the same time expressing strong concerns over NATO's military activity near the Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security. Russia has pointed out that rising fears of an "invasion" in Ukraine appear to be used as a pretext for advancing NATO's military presence further eastward in Europe.
According to Lavrov, the ongoing turmoil is being deliberately promoted by the West to cover up Kiev’s sabotage of the Minsk agreements.
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