Ukraine will ban Belarus-registered planes from using its airspace from May 29, the infrastructure ministry said on Friday.
Ukraine had banned flights to and from Belarus from Wednesday, following the forced landing of a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania at the weekend and the arrest of a dissident Belarusian journalist on board.
“The government has tightened ‘air sanctions’ against Belarusian airlines,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Restrictions on flights in Belarusian airspace and transit flights for Belarusian companies are necessary steps to ensure the safety of aviation and passengers,” it said.
Earlier this week Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine’s airlines were not allowed to transit through Belarus airspace.
The European Union leaders this week directed officials to draw up new sanctions against Belarus and work out a way to ban Belarusian airlines from the bloc’s skies.
This article originally appeared on Reuters