Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed NATO’s decision to rule out imposing a no-fly zone over the nation.
“NATO has deliberately decided not to cover the skies over Ukraine,” Zelensky stated in a Facebook post late Friday.
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“We believe that NATO countries have created a narrative that closing the skies over Ukraine would provoke Russia’s direct aggression against NATO. This is the self-hypnosis of those who are weak, insecure inside, despite the fact they possess weapons many times stronger than we have,” he said.
The Ukrainian President added in a tweet, “Nuclear terrorism requires decisive action in response. At the #UN Security Council meeting, we called for closing the sky over (Ukraine) and launching an operation to maintain peace and security. The goal is to save hazardous facilities. The world must not watch, but help!”
Zelensky stated NATO’s leadership, “Gave the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian towns and villages, refusing to make a no-fly zone. You could have closed the sky!”
“A weak summit, a confused summit, a summit that shows that not everyone considers the struggle for freedom to be Europe’s number one goal,” Zelensky said of NATO’s decision-making summit on Friday.
“For nine days we have been seeing a fierce war – destroying our cities, shelling our people, our children, residential neighborhoods, churches, schools, destroying everything that provides a normal life, human life,” he added.
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“All the people who will die from this day will also die because of you, because of your weakness, because of your disunity,” the Ukrainian president declared, addressing the NATO alliance.
Zelensky, on the other hand, expressed gratitude to NATO countries for their assistance for Ukraine, “I am also grateful to the friends of our country. There are many countries which are our friends in NATO, most of our partners, most of our powerful partners, those who help our country in spite of decisions.”
Despite the lack of a no-fly zone, he believes Ukraine will prevail, “From the first day of the invasion, I am sure of victory. And so we do not feel alone, we will continue to fight, we will defend our state, we will liberate our land.”
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Earlier today, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the US and its NATO partners establishing a no-fly zone in Ukraine might lead to a “full-fledged war in Europe.”
He stated that the United States would continue to collaborate with its friends to give Ukrainians with the ability to protect themselves against Russian aggression.
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NATO’s head said on Friday that the organisation is not considering imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
According to European Council President Charles Michel, implementing a no-fly zone over Ukraine is a NATO decision, but it would be “one step too far,” with a “real risk of escalation and a real risk of a possible third international war.”
All unlicensed aircraft would be prohibited from flying over Ukraine under a no-fly zone. Western nations enforced such restrictions on areas of Iraq for more than a decade during the 1991 Gulf War, as well as during the civil wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1993 to 1995 and Libya in 2011.
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Implementing a no-fly zone would risk a direct military battle with Russia, which may expand into a larger European war with a nuclear-armed superpower.
While the concept has piqued the public’s interest, designating a no-fly zone may oblige NATO pilots to shoot down Russian planes.
NATO would need to deploy refuelling tankers and electronic-surveillance aircraft in addition to fighter jets to support the mission. To protect these relatively slow, high-flying planes, NATO would have to destroy surface-to-air missile batteries in Russia and Belarus, potentially escalating into a larger confrontation.