Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, who is under EU sanctions for her role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was able to attend a conference in Geneva after her government plane received permission to cross the airspace of Italy and France, Bloomberg reports.
The agency recalls that Matviyenko oversaw the vote in the upper house of parliament to approve Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops to Ukraine and annex four Ukrainian regions partially seized by the Russian authorities.
According to an online flight tracking service, the plane with Matviyenko flew over Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea, and then arrived in Geneva via Italy on Monday and flew to Moscow on Wednesday via the airspace of France and Italy.
Bloomberg’s sources in Rome say that Italy allowed the plane with Matviyenko to enter its airspace at the request of the Swiss government. They added that the Italian government consulted with the French authorities, which also received the overflight request, before giving permission.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry, in response to a request from Bloomberg, reminded that it can make exceptions to the entry ban, “in particular for flights carried out for humanitarian, medical or diplomatic purposes.”
The European Union banned Russian aircraft from flying in its airspace a few days after the war began in February 2022, saying that member states “will deny permission for landing, takeoff or overflight over their territory.” Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but has partially joined the European sanctions.
Matviyenko’s participation in the World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva drew criticism from Kyiv and its allies. During her speech, some delegations left the meeting room. The speaker of the Federation Council herself called it “mosquito bites that no one pays attention to.”
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