Russian airlines banned from Czech airports

The Czech Republic is banning Russian airlines from landing at Czech airports as of midnight Friday, Transport Minister Martin Kupka told reporters. The move was made in coordination with Poland which has banned Russian airlines from its airspace. The Czech interior minister said earlier that the Czech government is planning to introduce additional unilateral sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said on Friday that the government is not happy with the extent of sanctions approved by the EU.  The Czech Republic tried to persuade its EU partners to block Russia from the SWIFT international payments system.

During a summit of NATO leaders Czech President Miloš Zeman also criticized the EU for not taking the sanctions against Russia far enough for them to be effective. The Czech president earlier called for Russia to be excluded from the SWIFT international payments system.