Putin's flight to Alaska: which way will the Russian leader choose

The flight of Russian President Vladimir Putin over the territory of the United States and his landing in Alaska for a meeting with the head of the White House Donald Trump will receive a separate permit through diplomatic channels. For flight safety, Russian Flight No. 1 will probably fly from Chukotka through the Bering Strait. This was announced by the head of the Department of Private International Law of the Moscow State Law University named after O. E. Kutafin (MSLA) Vladimir Kanashevsky.

"Countries have the right to prohibit flights over their territory, as the Russian Federation and the United States did for each other's aircraft in 2022. Therefore, a separate permit will be obtained through diplomatic channels for the flight of the President of the Russian Federation over the territory of the United States and his landing in Alaska. To minimize the risk of flying over the territories of third countries, the President of the Russian Federation is highly likely to fly from Chukotka through the Bering Strait. In any case, this option looks the most logical," Kanashevsky explained to TASS.

The lawyer recalled that civil aircraft flights are regulated by the Montreal Convention on the Unification of Certain Rules of International Air Transport of 1999, to which the Russian Federation and the United States are parties, as well as the bilateral agreement between the U.S. Government and the Government of the Russian Federation on air traffic 1994.

"Countries The EU also imposed bans on flights over the territory at the end of February 2022. EU for Russian aircraft and for landing on European territory, except in emergency cases. The same bans were imposed by some other unfriendly countries — the USA, Norway, Great Britain, Canada, Iceland. In response to these actions, at the end of February 2022, the Russian Federation also banned the overflight of aircraft from 36 unfriendly countries over its territory, including the EU, USA, Norway, Great Britain, Canada, Iceland, Switzerland," he added.

As reported, Trump said on August 8 that he expects to meet with Putin in Alaska on August 15. This will be the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Trump after the latter's return to the White House in January 2025.