Russian Air Transport Agency bans flights in Qatar's airspace until June 26

MOSCOW. June 23 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) has banned Russian air carriers from using Qatar's airspace due to the escalation in the Middle East.

The restrictions, which are in effect tentatively until 2:59 a.m. Moscow time on June 26, have been introduced in order to ensure flight safety, Rosaviatsiya said in a statement.

The earlier imposed restrictions on flights to and from the airports of Israel and Iran and in the airspace of Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Iran are valid and remain in effect until June 26 as well.

Qatar's authorities said earlier on Monday that they were temporarily closing the country's airspace for safety reasons.