The US embassy in Moscow on Sunday urged its citizens in Russia to leave the country “immediately” while flights are available as numerous countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The embassy published this message on its website “in the face of the increasing number of airlines that are canceling flights to and from Russia, and as numerous countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines.”
“US citizens should consider exiting Russia immediately through the trade options still available,” the note added.
Likewise, the embassy warned that there are “multiple reports” that non-Russian credit and debit cards are being “declined”, something that “seems to be related” to the harsh economic sanctions announced this Saturday by the US, the United Kingdom Kingdom and European partners against Moscow.
These include the exclusion of certain Russian banks from the international financial system SWIFT and the restrictions on international operations of the Central Bank of Russia.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed this Sunday to prohibit the landing, takeoff or passage of any Russian aircraft in the airspace of the European Union (EU), and other countries such as Canada have taken similar measures.
At the end of January, the US State Department placed Russia in the “do not travel” category at the end of January in the face of growing tensions with Moscow over its military build-up around the Ukraine border, which has led to the attack on its neighbor to the south.