Lavrov’s visit to Geneva cancelled due to EU ban on his plane’s flight

Baku, February 28, AZERTAC

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Geneva to take part in a session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the Conference on Disarmament has been cancelled following EU countries’ ban on his plane’s flight over their territories, a diplomatic source told TASS on Monday.

"Lavrov’s visit to Geneva to the UNHRC session and the Conference on Disarmament has been cancelled due to the unprecedented ban on his plane’s flights in the airspace of several EU countries, which have imposed anti-Russian sanctions," the source said.

Spokesperson for the UN Geneva office Alessandra Vellucci told TASS earlier on Monday that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had spoken over the phone with the EU leadership twice throughout Sunday in a bid to ensure the arrival of the Russian delegation to Geneva. According to Vellucci, Russia’s mission to the United Nations in New York asked the UN chief to help in this situation. Although the secretary general is not responsible for the issuance of flight permits for the member nations, he had spoken with the corresponding EU authorities, including European Council President Charles Michel, she noted.

The European Union has closed its airspace for Russia following the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine.