Putin warns US, others against imposition of no-fly zone over Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday warned the United States and its allies in the West against the imposition of a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

He also likened the sanctions imposed by Western nations over his invasion of Ukraine to a declaration of war.

Putin, who made the remarks while speaking to a group of women flight attendants at an Aeroflot training centre near Moscow, said any attempt to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be seen as participation in the armed conflict.

He dismissed suggestions that he would introduce a state of emergency or martial law in Russia.

Putin, who tried to justify the invasion, claimed that he was seeking to defend Russian speaking communities in Ukraine there through the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of the country.

READ ALSO: Russian businessman declares Putin wanted for mass murder, places $1m bounty on President’s head

Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 21, a few days after Moscow declared its support for two breakaway republics in Ukraine.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion, the US, Canada and other Western nations had imposed several sanctions on the country including the freezing of Putin’s foreign assets and the exclusion of a number of Russian banks from the Swift international payments system in a bid to force the Kremlin to pull back from Ukraine.

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