Western Countries Consecutively Advise Their Nationals to Withdraw from Russia

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[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Western countries are consecutively advising their nationals residing in Russia to leave the country.

According to major foreign media on the 1st, following the United States and France, the governments of Germany and Belgium requested their nationals on the 28th of last month (local time) to promptly leave Russia.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on the day, "Germans who do not urgently need to stay in Russia should depart." The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also noted that flight operations are deteriorating and advised Belgian nationals residing in Russia to leave using available transportation and those planning to travel to Russia to refrain from doing so.

The UK Foreign Office also emphasized, "Since there is no possibility of returning to the UK from Russia, we advise British citizens not to attempt travel throughout Russia." Earlier, British Airways suspended flights to Russia, and the Russian state airline Aeroflot also stopped flights to the UK.

The U.S. Department of State approved the voluntary departure of non-essential diplomats and their families working at the U.S. embassy in Russia on the same day. The previous day, it advised U.S. nationals residing in Russia to withdraw. The U.S. embassy in Moscow stated, "Flights to and from Russia are being canceled continuously, and several countries are closing their airspace to Russia," urging, "Consider leaving Russia immediately using flights still in operation." The French government also advised its nationals residing in Russia to withdraw immediately via still-operating civilian flights.

Meanwhile, Russia retaliated on the day by banning flights of airlines from 36 Western countries that had prohibited Russian aircraft from entering their airspace following the invasion of Ukraine. Earlier, most European countries, including the UK, Germany, France, and Italy, individually banned Russian aircraft from entering their airspace, and the European Union (EU) Commission also banned the landing, takeoff, and flights of Russian aircraft within the region on the 27th of last month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.