Mystery Russian flight to the US sparks diplomatic intrigue
One of the aircraft from the Special Flight Squadron "Russia" flew to New York and Washington on Boxing Day. It spent two days there. It is unknown who was on board the Ilyushin Il-96-300, which is used by the highest officials in Russia, including the heads of special services. When asked by journalists about this matter, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, stated, "another diplomatic rotation."
The independent Russian channel BAZA on Telegram was the first to report on the mysterious flight of the Russian government plane, wondering who and for what purpose travelled to the USA.
According to data from FlightRadar, on 25 December, one of the planes from the Special Flight Squadron "Rossiya" took off from Moscow to St. Petersburg. On 26 December, this aircraft flew from St. Petersburg to New York, and after a short break, proceeded to Washington, D.C.
The aircraft remained there for two days. Only on 28 December did the Russian plane take off again from Washington to New York, and from there to Moscow, according to the BAZA channel on Telegram.
The top leadership of Russia uses this plane for official flights. Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have previously flown on it. Sergey Naryshkin, the head of SVR, also used the Ilyushin Il-96-300. Vladimir Putin also flies a plane of the same type.
Who was on board this plane this time? It is unknown. It is also unknown what the purpose of the visit by the individuals who went to the USA was. There is no official information about any Russian delegation that was supposed to visit the USA.
Behind-the-scenes talks between the Kremlin and Biden and Trump's people?
The BAZA channel suggested that the mysterious flight might be related to behind-the-scenes talks between the Kremlin and the administration of Joe Biden and people close to President-elect Donald Trump. It recalled the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov from Sunday morning, the day after the plane returned to Russia.
Lavrov stated that Moscow is not satisfied with the proposals from Donald Trump's team concerning Ukraine. "Of course, we are not pleased with the proposals submitted on behalf of representatives of the president-elect's team to postpone Ukraine's NATO membership for 20 years and to introduce a peacekeeping contingent of 'British and European forces' into Ukraine," Lavrov said.
Sergey Lavrov also said that in talks with the Joe Biden administration, which before Trump's inauguration is authorised to liaise with Moscow on behalf of Washington, there is no talk of negotiations regarding Ukraine.
The issue has attracted the interest of Russian media. Journalists asked Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova about the mysterious flight to the USA. She dismissed them with a brief statement: "another diplomatic rotation."
Source: Telegram/BAZA, ria.ru
