MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government should discuss a possible response to Western restrictions targeting Russian air carriers, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday.
“The issue that I would like to discuss concerns the consequences of decisions made by a number of states and targeting our air carriers. We need to discuss possible retaliatory measures,” Medvedev said at a meeting with Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov and a deputy director general of Russia’s flagship air carrier Aeroflot, Vadim Zingman.
The prime minister has ordered the Ministry of Transport to ensure that all people who have bought tickets for Dobrolet flights are to be flown to their destination by other air companies.
Aeroflot’s low-cost subsidiary, Dobrolet, had to temporarily suspend all flights since Monday after being included on the EU blacklist of sanctions unveiled in late July for performing flights to the former Ukrainian republic of Crimea.
The airline said amid EU economic sanctions several European associates were forced to cancel lease agreements, including the deal for Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Dobrolet launched its first commercial flights from the Russian capital to Crimea’s Simferopol in June, nearly three months after the former Ukrainian region rejoined Russia following a referendum.
The airline also announced plans to start performing flights to other cities across Russia, including to Volgograd, Samara, Ufa, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Surgut and Kazan.
Earlier this year, the United States and the European Union imposed targeted sanctions against a number of Russian officials and companies as a response to Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called the language of sanctions counterproductive and said these measures would have a boomerang effect on European economies.
