Russia’s flight to Geneva should have been four hours – so why did it take nine instead?

Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. delegations are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, this week for another round of talks in a diplomatic push to reach a peace deal in the nearly four-year-long war in Ukraine.

Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the EU has imposed 19 packages of sanctions on Russian officials, companies and others.

Included in the sanctions is the closure of EU airspace to all Russian aircraft, as well as the closure of EU ports to all Russian vessels, according to the Council of the European Union.

Since a trip from Moscow to Geneva would normally pass over several EU states, the Russian delegation was forced to take a large detour to reach Geneva.

In fact, the trip took more than double the time it would normally take — and when you see the flight plan, you understand why.

Transit in Turkey

The independent Belarusian outlet Nexta has posted a map showing the flight route of RSD150, which, according to Flightradar24, is a Russian Special Flight Squadron aircraft.

According to Nexta, the flight of RSD150 took about nine hours. However, according to TravelMath, the trip from Moscow to Geneva should take approximately 3½ hours.

Since European airspace is closed to Russian aircraft, the Russian delegation took a detour south, flying at a safe distance from the Ukrainian border, over Turkey, across the eastern Mediterranean and finally over Italy to reach Switzerland.

Italy is part of the EU, and its airspace is therefore also closed to Russian aircraft. Although unconfirmed, the United States was said to have assisted in planning the flight path.

It is likely that a temporary exemption from the EU flight ban allowed the Russian delegation to pass over Italy, since it would otherwise be impossible to reach Geneva without entering EU airspace.

Sources: Nexta, Council of the European Union, Flightradar24, TravelMath, RIA Novosti

This article is made and published by Jens Asbjørn Bogen, who may have used AI in the preparation