ICAO Yet to Receive Kiev Statement on Russia’s Breach of Aviation Accord

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN agency, has not received a statement from Ukrainian authorities on Russia’s alleged violation of an international agreement governing aviation, ICAO Communications Chief Anthony Philbin told Sputnik on Thursday.

Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Kistion said in a Facebook post earlier this week that Kiev was preparing a statement to the ICAO regarding Russia’s alleged violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

"As far as we are aware, ICAO has not yet received such a request," Philbin said. "Otherwise we are constantly prepared to receive any queries on international civil aviation matters from our Member States, as is fully consistent with our mission and role."

On Tuesday, Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, the fifth and current President of the ICAO Council, visited Ukraine, according to Kistion.

Kistion said via Facebook that, despite progress on aviation space safety, Kiev is counting on the ICAO for assistance normalizing air flows over the Crimea and the Black Sea, adding that "Crimea is Ukraine."

The Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister, however, did not provide any specific examples of violations by Russia.

In 2014, Crimea voted at a referendum to rejoin Russia, but the reunification was not accepted by Kiev and the West. The United States, the European Union, Ukraine and some other countries introduced several rounds of sanctions, against Russia, some of them targeting Crimea specifically.

Russian officials have repeatedly denied interfering in Ukraine’s internal affairs and warned that Western sanctions are counterproductive measures that undermine global stability.