Biden to announce U.S. will close its skies to Russian aircraft

The U.S. will close its skies to Russian aircraft, President Joe Biden will announce during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, according to a source familiar with the president's plans.

The announcement will come during an address that will focus heavily on the response by the U.S. and its allies against the Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The move to close U.S. airspace to Russian aircraft follows actions taken by the European Union earlier this week to do the same.

On Sunday, the E.U. banned all travel from Russian planes over its airspace in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. That ban applied to “any plane owned, chartered or otherwise controlled by a Russian legal or natural person” and included any aircraft privately owned by a Russian oligarch, officials said.

Individual European countries had previously prohibited various Russian aircraft from their airspace. Canada has also shut its airspace to Russian aircraft.

Biden’s announcement for the U.S. to do the same will come during a speech in which he’ll slam Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “wrong” and will highlight the response that the U.S. and its allies have undertaken against it, according to excerpts released by the White House.

“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson — when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And, the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising,” Biden will say.

In his prime-time remarks, Biden will highlight the unity between the U.S. and its NATO allies in their response to Russia’s “premeditated and unprovoked” invasion, saying Putin underestimated the strength of the NATO alliance, according to excerpts remarks released by the White House ahead of the speech.

“That’s why the NATO Alliance was created to secure peace and stability in Europe after World War 2. The United States is a member along with 29 other nations,” Biden will say. “It matters. American diplomacy matters.”

“[Putin] thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And,he thought he could divide us here at home,” Biden will say, according to the excerpts.

“Putin was wrong. We were ready,” Biden will say.

Biden’s speech will come after another day of fighting in Ukraine, where an intensifying Russian assault pounded the heart of Ukraine’s second-largest city, fueling fears that civilians would bear the brunt of the attack.