Lufthansa suspends flights to and from Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Odessa
February 19, 2022, 4:55 pm

Lufthansa suspends flights to and from Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Odessa

Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa (File photo: Pixabay)

The National Post reported, citing Reuters, Lufthansa spokesperson said on Saturday amid growing fears of a possible Russian invasion, flag carrier and largest airline of Germany is suspending flights to and from the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Odessa.

The company will conduct some last flights to those cities over the weekend before suspending flights from Monday until the end of the month, the spokesman said. It will continue to fly to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine.

The spokesperson said, Lufthansa is constantly monitoring the situation and will decide on further flights at a later date.

Lufthansa follows several other European airlines which have already canceled services to and from Ukraine.

German Chancellor heads to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin

Germany’s foreign ministry earlier on Saturday told its nationals to leave the country.

Source: nationalpost

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.