Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Sunday urged measures to bring Russian passengers stranded in European airports over the spread of a volcanic ash cloud back to home.
"We need to organize the transportation of people, those who want to use other kinds of transport, except air communication," Putin told a government meeting on the situation around the cancellation of flights in European countries over the volcano eruption in Iceland.
Putin proposed, in particular, that Russian citizens be brought home from Warsaw, Prague and Berlin by buses.
He also said that timely visa support should be available.
"It is obvious that we need to help people with visa support because visas are expiring," he said.
The eruption on the Eyjafjallajokull Glacier in Iceland, which began on Wednesday, has disabled air traffic throughout central and northern Europe, leaving thousands of travelers stranded. The cloud is expected to remain there for four to five days.
Iceland sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic's mid-oceanic ridge. The volcano last erupted on March 21. Before that it had been dormant since 1821, when eruptions lasted for two years.
The volcanic cloud has also prevented foreign leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, from attending the burial of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria in Krakow on Sunday.
Poland's first couple, along with 94 other Polish officials, died in a plane crash near the western Russian city of Smolensk on April 10.
NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 18 (RIA Novosti)
