Dutch flag carrier KLM suspends flights to Ukraine

By Abdullah Asiran

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AA) – Dutch flag carrier KLM on Saturday announced it is suspending all flights to Ukraine after the country's Foreign Ministry issued a travel alert.

All flights to Ukraine, including those scheduled for tonight, have been halted by the airline, said a KLM spokesperson.

KLM, which normally flies twice a day to the capital Kyiv, also said it will not fly over Ukrainian airspace.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra called on all Dutch citizens to immediately leave Ukraine amid rising tensions with Russia.

The Netherlands’ NATO ally the US said on Friday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come “at any time.”

Moscow recently amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning another military offensive against its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Russia has denied it is preparing to invade and accused Western countries of undermining its security by NATO’s expansion toward its borders.

The Kremlin also issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states and guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia would not join NATO.