Peskov: Trump's statements on closing Ukrainian airspace are new, need study

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump’s statements regarding a possible closure of the Ukrainian airspace are new developments, this topic has not been discussed before and needs to be thoroughly studied, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

He said that the proposal voiced by the American president stipulates NATO presence on Ukrainian territory and contradicts one of the set objectives of the Russian special military operation.

"These are new statements. There have been no statements of this kind made before," Peskov said at a news briefing.

"No one had previously raised the issue of closing the airspace. In any case, this would imply operational activities by NATO member states’ armed forces over Ukrainian territory. This is precisely what the special military operation is intended to prevent," he continued.

"This [proposal] needs to be studied. It definitely needs to be thoroughly analyzed to understand how this issue has been worked out, between whom it has been worked out, etc.," he added.

Speaking at a meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Turkey’s Ankara, US President Trump stated that potential US security guarantees for Kiev may include measures to close Ukraine's airspace.