A direct flight from Moscow to Geneva would have taken half as long. Image: Flightradar24
Feb 17, 2026, 4:06 p.mFeb 17, 2026, 4:29 p.m
On Monday evening, a Russian delegation set off for talks with Ukraine in Geneva. The Il-96-300 government plane needed a total of 9 hours and 13 minutes to travel from Moscow to Geneva – more than twice as long as usual.
The reason for the massive delay for Vladimir Medinski’s team is the extensive flight around European airspace. While a direct flight normally goes via Belarus, Poland and Germany, the current sanctions forced the crew to take a southern route.
The Russian plane landed in Geneva on Tuesday morning at 6:48 a.m.Image: keystone
Türkiye instead of Poland
As data from FlightRadar24 – an online service for real-time positioning of aircraft – shows, the route led over the Black Sea and Turkey before the plane turned right over the Mediterranean and crossed Italy.
Despite the general ban on Russian aircraft flying in the EU, there are media reports circulating that the USA helped to obtain the necessary special permits.
However, a direct overflight of Poland remained out of the question: Warsaw has consistently refused transit to Russian government aircraft since the recent incidents with Russian drones.
Russia and Ukraine have begun their two-day negotiations in Geneva under US mediation to end the war in Ukraine. (val)