Russia awaiting Ottawa's response on Russian citizens held in Canada

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According to the Russian Ambassador to Ottawa, Oleg Stepanov, the Russian Embassy in Canada is awaiting a response from the Canadian government regarding the incident involving a private jet being held at Yellowknife Airport.

The plane was carrying Russian citizens and Stepanov disclosed to Sputnik that the Russian side continues "to seek a response from the Foreign Ministry. We Submitted a request last night."

However, Ottawa is yet to provide Russia with a response as the Foreign Minister expressed that the Canadian government has given no response yet and was not aware of the matter. "They said that just like us, they learned about it from media reports. Our consul is dealing with the situation."

According to Transport Canada, the plane was held in the Northwest Territories in Canada on Tuesday, and the department told Global News in a Thursday email that it was working with the country's Border Services Agency to "assess the matter," and figure out if the plane violated any Notice to Airman (NOTAM) prohibiting Russian aircraft from operation in Canada's airspace.

The NOTAM was enforced as a response to Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

Russia had for months been warning of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened simultaneously with an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders, and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.

After the West did not respond to Russia's demands, and amid Ukrainian shelling on the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, President Vladimir Putin initiated a special military operation in Donbass.