KIYV. Sept 30 (Interfax) - Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has described the retaliatory sanctions imposed by Russia on Ukrainian airlines as causeless.
Ukraine introduced the anti-Russian sanctions "in connection with the seizure of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk," Yatsenyuk said at the Ukrainian government on Wednesday.
"Nevertheless, our northern neighbors started to issue threats without any reason and undertook their responsive measures against Ukrainian airlines. I would like to emphasize that in international relations, the key principle is the principle of reciprocity. In case Russians think this is the way they will be destroying our airlines, they must be getting nowhere," he said.
Also, Yatsenyuk commissioned Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pyvovarsky to hold consultations with Russian aviation authorities concerning the observation of the reciprocity principle in relation to flights between the two countries.
"The principle of reciprocity means the following: the number of their flights to our country must match the number of our flights to theirs, unless our bilateral agreements specify otherwise," Yatsenyuk said at the Ukrainian government's meeting on Wednesday.
"Aeroflot cannot be allowed to fly, but it is necessary to implement our bilateral agreements based on the principle of reciprocity. We must protect our own market and declare that by imposing sanctions, the government of Ukraine will protect its companies, its economic interest," Yatsenyuk said.
It was reported earlier that Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree on September 16 giving legal effect to the decision of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council dated September 2, whereby the council ruled "On the imposition of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)" to affect a number of Russian airlines, including the largest one, Aeroflot.
On September 29 it was revealed that Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) advised Ukrainian air carriers of the ban on using Russian airspace from October 25.