The UK government is asking airlines to avoid Belarus airspace after a Ryanair jet was forced to land in capital Minsk and a journalist travelling on board was arrested.
Foreign secretaryDominic Raab told the House of Commons he had also asked the Civil Aviation Authority to suspend the operating permit of the Belarusian airline Belavia.
The announcement came ahead of a summit in Brussels where the European Union is expected to impose sanctions on the regime of president Alexander Lukashenko.
European Council president Charles Michel said that the 27-nation bloc was convinced a “firm” response was needed to what he described as an “international scandal” which had put international security, civil aviation and the lives of European citizens at risk.,
