This is a measure taken "in view of the situation on site and as a precaution", underlined the French company which until then provided two rotations per week between Paris and Kiev, on Tuesday and Sunday.

"Air France will regularly re-evaluate the situation and recall that the safety and security of flights, of its customers and of its crews, is an absolute imperative", she added.

On Saturday, the German company Lufthansa had already announced that it would suspend its flights to Kiev and Odessa from Monday until the end of February, simply maintaining a connection to Lviv, in the west of the country.

Air France's sister company, the Dutch KLM, took the lead on February 12, announcing the suspension of its flights to Ukraine due to the deterioration of the security situation.

“There are no more flights in Ukrainian airspace until further notice,” KLM also said.

The Ukrainian government then stressed that its airspace remained open and that "the state is working to prevent risks for airlines".

KLM had already stopped flying over eastern Ukraine since the crash of Malaysian flight MH17 which linked Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, shot down in this region on July 17, 2014, killing the 283 passengers on board and the 15 crew members .

Moscow has always denied any involvement.

France also recommended Saturday to all its nationals to leave Ukraine as the threat of an invasion by Russia is becoming more and more pressing.

"It is recommended that all French nationals whose stay in Ukraine has no compelling reason to leave the country", underlined French diplomacy in its travel advice.

The French who find themselves "in the oblasts (administrative divisions, editor's note) of Kharkiv, Lugansk and Donetsk", as well as in the Dnipro region, near Russia, are "called upon to leave these areas without delay", also insisted the Quai d'Orsay.

While France had announced overnight from Sunday to Monday the imminence of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden aimed at defusing the crisis, the Kremlin deemed Monday "premature" the holding of such a summit.

Moscow also accused Ukraine of firing a shell at a Russian border crossing, which Kiev denied.

Fighting in the east of the country between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists has escalated in the past three days.

© 2022 AFP