Russia Threatens To Block Flights Over Sanctions

A recently-destroyed military truck smoulders near Mariupol on Sunday

Russia has warned that it will hit back against the West if tougher sanctions are imposed over the conflict in Ukraine - as a shaky ceasefire in the region holds.

Dmitry Medvedev blamed countries backing Ukraine for damaging the Russian economy with "stupid" sanctions and suggested Moscow could retaliate by stopping flights over Russian airspace.
The Russian prime minister told the Vedomosti newspaper Russia may have been too patient in responding to sanctions imposed so far by the United States and European Union over the Kremlin's role in Ukraine - and warned the mistake would not be repeated.
He said: "If there are sanctions related to the energy sector, or further restrictions on Russia's financial sector, we will have to respond asymmetrically.

Russia PM Dmitry Medvedev suggested Moscow may have been too patient

"If Western carriers have to bypass our airspace, this could drive many struggling airlines into bankruptcy. This is not the way to go.
"We just hope our partners realise this at some point."
A new package of EU-agreed sanctions, which would hit oil and gas giants Rosneft and Gazprom, is due to come into force on Monday but could be suspended if Russia is judged to be working towards a resolution of the Ukraine conflict.
A ceasefire agreed on Friday by envoys from Ukraine, the leadership of pro-Russian separatists fighting Kiev government forces, Russia and Europe's OSCE security watchdog has been tested by fighting in eastern Ukraine.

A tentative truce is to be holding amid tension around Donetsk and Mariupol

OSCE chair Thomas Greminger said on Monday that the truce was holding, although "it is still shaky".
Ukrainian forces said they had come under sporadic fire overnight from pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and listed rebel violations of the agreement in five sites, while the separatists accused government forces of preparing to storm a town near rebel-held Donetsk, the region's industrial hub.
There were no reports of any overnight casualties.
Both the rebels and the Ukrainian military insist they are strictly observing the ceasefire and blame their opponents for any violations.
One woman was killed after shelling resumed near the port of Mariupol on Saturday, while the area around Donetsk airport was hit by blasts on Sunday.
Before the ceasefire was agreed in Minsk, Russian-backed separatists had been advancing on Donetsk airport and Mariupol - a key city between Russia and Crimea, which Moscow annexed in March.
The Ukraine crisis could provide a tense backdrop to talks on Thursday between Russia and the US over a 1987 arms treaty agreement - which a Russian general suggested pulling out of earlier this year.

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