WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it will allow U.S. airlines and code-share partners to resume flights at three Ukrainian airports and over parts of the Black Sea, citing improved safety and security in parts of Ukraine.

The FAA had barred flights over the war zones of the Crimea and Ukraine in April 2014, and expanded prohibitions after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down while it flew over eastern Ukraine, killing nearly 300 people on board.

The FAA said in a notice filed on a government website it would maintain prohibitions on flights over the Crimea and parts of Ukraine.

The air safety agency said it will allow takeoffs and landings at Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia international airports in Ukraine, saying operations could be conducted with "minimal additional risk." (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bernadette Baum) </s> The Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine says the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA, the United States) has allowed the U.S. air companies to resume flights in the Simferopol and Dnipropetrovsk flight information regions.

The press service of the Infrastructure Ministry announced this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelian has said that the Federal Aviation Administration of the USA has allowed American air companies and their partners to resume flights to three Ukrainian airports and over a part of the air space over the Black Sea," reads the statement.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in March 2018, the Ukraerorukh state air navigation servicing enterprise and the FAA said they were eying resumption of flights of airlines registered in the USA within the Simferopol and Dnipropetrovsk flight information regions. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it would allow U.S. airlines and codeshare partners to resume flights at three Ukrainian airports and over parts of the Black Sea, citing improved safety and security in parts of Ukraine.

The FAA had barred flights over the war zones of Crimea and the Ukraine in April 2014, and expanded prohibitions after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down while it flew over eastern Ukraine, killing nearly 300 people on board.

The FAA said in a notice filed on a government website it would maintain prohibitions on flights over the Crimea and parts of Ukraine.

The air safety agency said it would allow takeoffs and landings at Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia international airports in Ukraine, saying operations could be conducted with “minimal additional risk.”

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, prompting international condemnation and Western sanctions, but since then there have been no major outbreaks of violence on the peninsula.

The FAA said security and safety conditions “have sufficiently stabilized in certain regions of Ukraine” to allow for additional flight operations. There have been over two years of safe flight operations on Black Sea air routes by non-U.S. airlines, prompting the change, it said.

The FAA said it was allowing flights to the three additional Ukraine airports, including one serving Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, because it believed there was enough of a “buffer from the area of fighting and associated weapons capabilities.”

The rules, which are currently scheduled to last until October 2020, also apply to foreign airlines operating a U.S. airline codeshare flight. </s> An armed pro-Russian separatist stands on part of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane after it crashed near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. The Dutch are due to announce on Wednesday 28 September the long-awaited results of an investigation with Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine into the July 17, 2014 downing of the flight. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it would allow U.S. airlines and codeshare partners to resume flights at three Ukrainian airports and over parts of the Black Sea, citing improved safety and security in parts of Ukraine.

The FAA had barred flights over the war zones of Crimea and the Ukraine in April 2014, and expanded prohibitions after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down while it flew over eastern Ukraine, killing nearly 300 people on board.

The FAA said in a notice filed on a government website it would maintain prohibitions on flights over the Crimea and parts of Ukraine.

The air safety agency said it would allow takeoffs and landings at Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia international airports in Ukraine, saying operations could be conducted with “minimal additional risk.”

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, prompting international condemnation and Western sanctions, but since then there have been no major outbreaks of violence on the peninsula.

The FAA said security and safety conditions “have sufficiently stabilized in certain regions of Ukraine” to allow for additional flight operations. There have been over two years of safe flight operations on Black Sea air routes by non-U.S. airlines, prompting the change, it said.

The FAA said it was allowing flights to the three additional Ukraine airports, including one serving Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, because it believed there was enough of a “buffer from the area of fighting and associated weapons capabilities.”

The rules, which are currently scheduled to last until October 2020, also apply to foreign airlines operating a U.S. airline codeshare flight. </s> The FAA has modified areas in Eastern Ukraine that are off-limits to US airlines and their foreign codeshare partners, citing a stabilization in security conditions in the region.

The directive, which will remain in effect until October 2020, will open up takeoffs and landings at three Ukrainian international airports, as well as flights over four Black Sea routes, while retaining bans on operations in more volatile areas of Eastern Ukraine and the Crimea.

The FAA first prohibited flight operations in April 2014 in parts of the Simferopol (UKFV) Flight Information Region (FIR) by US carriers and airmen because of conflicting airspace claims between Ukraine and Russia arising from the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

That prohibition was expanded in July 2014 to include the entire UKFV FIR, as well as the Dnipropetrovsk FIR (UKDV), following a rise in hostilities between the Ukraine military and pro-Russian separatists, and the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that month, which killed 280 passengers and 15 crew.

Following two additional extensions in 2015 and 2016, the FAA has now proposed to extend the prohibition for another two years, but only in the portions of the UKFV and UKDV FIRs where there is still a continuing hazard to civil aviation.

The FAA is extending the prohibition in the Eastern part of UKDV, but will be permitting US civil operations in the Western portion of the region. The three airports now open to US airlines and their codeshare partners are all located within the flight prohibition area of the UKDV FIR, but will be receiving exemptions from the FAA to facilitate US aircraft.

They include the Kharkiv International Airport (UKHH), which serves the country’s second largest city of Kharkiv; the Dnipropetrovsk International Airport (UKDD); and Zaporizhzhia International Airport (UKDE). The FAA said those airports are safe because of a “buffer from the area of fighting and associated weapons capabilities.”

While operations over the Crimean Peninsula in the UKFV FIR remain suspended, the FAA will allow US civil operations over four Black Sea routes, which are over the high seas and deemed to be sufficiently offshore from the Crimea.

In its decision to extend the prohibitions in the two Eastern Ukrainian regions, the FAA cited concerns that the government of Ukraine “has not mitigated the hazards. . .necessitating a continuing, albeit more limited, flight prohibition.” The agency also cited an “overwhelming Russian military presence and weapon capabilities” on the Crimean Peninsula, which it said creates a continuing risk for misidentification of aircraft flying over the peninsula and in nearby airspace. </s> The United States accused Russia of sending one of its fighter jets dangerously close to an American spy plane over the Black Sea on Wednesday, an intercept American military officials said was "unsafe and unprofessional," even as Moscow said it acted in accordance with international flight rules.

The U.S. said its Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft was on "routine operations" in international airspace when a Russian SU-27 Flanker jet flew within three meters of it in an intercept that lasted 19 minutes.

"U.S. Navy aircraft and ships routinely interact with Russian units in the area and most interactions are safe and professional," the U.S. Defense Department said. "However, we have concerns when there is an unsafe maneuver like this. These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions, and could result in a miscalculation or accident."

The Russian defense ministry said it dispatched its fighter jet after the U.S. aircraft approached the Russian border and turned off its transponders, which are used for identification.

"After the Russian fighters approached the reconnaissance aircraft for visual inspection and identification of the aircraft registration numbers, the American planes abruptly changed course and flew in the opposite direction from the Russian border," Moscow said.

A Russian defense ministry spokesman said the Russian fighter acted in strict accordance with international rules.

The conflict in the skies comes at a time of increased tensions between the two countries, chiefly their inability to agree on how to achieve a lasting cease-fire in the Syrian civil war and end fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has been supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels trying to overthrow his government, while the U.S. has focused its attention on attacks against Islamic State jihadists in Syria. The U.S. imposed economic sanctions against Moscow for its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and support for pro-Moscow fighters in eastern Ukraine doing battle with Kyiv's forces.

Wednesday's incident over the Black Sea is one of several between Russian and U.S. warplanes this year. In April, as a U.S. guided missile destroyer patrolled in the Baltic Sea, two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes over it.

The two countries agreed in a 1972 pact to various measures to avert dangerous interactions in international waters. </s> An unarmed Russian air force reconnaissance jet flew over several government buildings and landmarks in the nation's capital Wednesday — including the Pentagon, the Capitol, the National Mall and the White House — ABC News has confirmed.

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The flight, over what is normally some of the most secure airspace in the nation, was allowed under the Treaty of Open Skies, which allows participating countries the opportunity to take aerial imagery anywhere over a participating country's territory to promote transparency about military activities.

The Russian jet, a Tupolev Tu-154M, also flew over the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Virginia, as well as Camp David and Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

According to flight data obtained from the aircraft monitoring website Flightradar24, the Russian aircraft took off from Dayton, Ohio, Wednesday morning.

In a second flight Wednesday afternoon, the aircraft flew over Bedminster, New Jersey, where President Trump is taking a working vacation during White House renovations.

The Russian flights, first reported by CNN, were conducted under the Open Skies Treaty, signed by 34 countries, including the United States and Russia.

Open Skies allows for unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of a participating country.

The United States flies Open Skies missions over Russian territory. "They come here just like we go there," a U.S. official said. "It's a mutually agreed process."

The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) noted that unclassified imagery gathered in March 2014 during a German-U.S. flight over Russia's border with Ukraine helped prove Russian military activities in eastern Ukraine despite Russian denials.

The official said Russia typically flies Open Skies missions in the United States over command infrastructure, key locations and other critical infrastructure. That includes flights over national security landmarks in Washington, through airspace that is always off-limits to American civilian aircraft.

Russian Open Skies flights in the U.S. are coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration and carry U.S. Air Force personnel who serve as escorts.

The DTRA would not confirm Wednesday's Russian flights but said a typical mission conducted under the treaty has multiple flights taking place over several days.

Per stipulations in the Open Skies Treaty, visiting aircraft are allowed to use specific wet film equipment or digital sensors to take aerial surveillance photos that are later shared with the host nation.

The U.S. flies OC-135B aircraft when it conducts such missions over Russia and other countries.

ABC News' Jeff Cook and Erin Dooley contributed to this report. </s> Ukrainian policemen guard the Russian embassy building with smoke behind during Ukrainian activists rally in Kiev, Ukraine, 25 November 2018. Russia has seized three Ukrainian vessels amid their leaving the Kerch Strait; Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is gathering the Military Cabinet over the incident.

MOSCOW – Ukrainian lawmakers were set to consider a presidential request for the introduction of martial law in the country on Monday following an incident in which Russian coast guard ships fired on Ukrainian navy vessels.

An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council was also called for Monday. The European Union and NATO called for restraint from both sides.

The Ukrainian navy said six of its seamen were wounded when Russian coast guards opened fire on three Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait and then seized them late Sunday.

The two nations traded blame over the incident that further escalated tensions that have soared since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and backed a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine said its vessels were heading to the Sea of Azov in line with international maritime rules, while Russia charged that they had failed to obtain a permission to pass through the Kerch Strait separating Crimea from the Russian mainland.

More: Russia fires on Ukrainian vessels in Black Sea; 2 wounded

The narrow strait is the only passage between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It’s spanned by a 19-kilometer (11.8-mile) bridge that Russia completed this year.

Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, chaired an emergency meeting of his Cabinet early Monday and asked parliament to introduce martial law in response to what he described as Russian aggression.

“We consider it as an act of aggression against our state and a very serious threat,” the president said. “Unfortunately, there are no ‘red lines’ for the Russian Federation.”

The Ukrainian military said that six of the 23 crew on board its three vessels were wounded. Russia’s Federal Security Service that is in charge of the coast guard said that three Ukrainian sailors were lightly injured and given medical assistance. It said the Ukrainian boats were towed to the nearby port of Kerch.

Russia closed the Kerch Strait for sea traffic Sunday by positioning a tanker under the bridge spanning it. It reopened the route early Monday.

The seizure of the Ukrainian ships followed a tense situation in which the three Ukrainian vessels were maneuvering near the Kerch Strait for hours shadowed by Russian coast guard boats.

The incident came after months of tensions and incidents in the Sea of Azov that involved inspections and seizures of ships.

While a 2003 treaty designates the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov as shared territorial waters, Russia has sought to assert greater control over the passage since the annexation of Crimea.

Yuras Karmanau in Minsk, Belarus, contributed to this report. </s> Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said the potentially dangerous incident, involving a Russian SU-27 jet and a US Navy P-8A Poseidon plane, lasted 19 minutes.

A US official told CNN's Barbara Starr that the Russian plane came within 10 feet of the P-8 at one point. Davis added that the US plane was conducting routine operations in international airspace at the time.

The official added that the US plane was operating in international airspace at the time.

"These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions, and could result in a miscalculation or accident," Davis said in a statement.

The US has long protested Russian intercepts of its aircraft; there have been several this year. On two separate occasions in April , Russian SU-27 fighters performed "barrel rolls" over American KC-135 planes flying above the Baltic Sea. RELATED: Russian jets keep buzzing U.S. ships and planes. What can the U.S. do? Russian officials have defended the actions of their pilots in the past, but have yet to comment on the most recent incident. Tensions have been ratcheted up in the Black Sea recently as Russia began five days of military exercises Monday involving 12,500 personnel and its Black Sea fleet based in Crimea, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 an event that has subjected Russia to international sanctions. The Russian Defense Ministry posted a video Thursday on its Facebook page showing Russian fighter crews based in Crimea conducting an intercept drill. The latest incident also comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are due to meet Thursday to discuss the ongoing conflict in Syria.
The Federal Aviation Administration states that it will allow U.S. airlines to resume flights at three Ukrainian airports, at Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhia, and over parts of the Black Sea, citing improved safety and security in parts of Ukraine.