NATO on Friday rejected Ukraine’s appeal for a no-fly zone promoting that it could escalate to a full-fledged war involving more countries. The decision was followed after an urgent meeting of the 30-member alliance held in Brussels. The secretary-general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg announced the decision.
He said, “We are not part of this conflict,” helping Ukraine protect its skies from Russian missiles and warplanes would require NATO forces to shoot down Russian aircraft, a move that could result in a “full-fledged war in Europe involving many more countries”.
He further said that as NATO allies, they have the responsibility to restrict the war to escalate beyond Ukraine as that would result in more devastation, human loss and dangerous.
The Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelensky earlier has requested NATO to set up a no-fly zone over his country, which Russia invaded by land, sea and air on the 24th of Feb. The decision of NATO was highly criticized by the president of Ukraine. In an emotional and bitter speech, he showed his displeasure.
Zelensky on late Friday while addressing on television said, “Today there was a NATO summit, a weak summit, a confused summit, a summit where it was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe’s freedom to be the number one goal.”
He condemned NATO that it gave the green light for the further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages and now NATO is also responsible for the deaths in Ukraine.
On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air, calling it a “special military operation” aimed at dislodging “neo-Nazis” ruling the country. The nine-day offensive has killed and wounded thousands of people and resulted in more than one million people seeking refuge across the borders in the neighbouring countries.
Western nations have called out at Russia’s invasion. The Nation showed its support by sending arms supplies to Ukraine and imposing the heaviest international economic sanctions against Moscow to date, including on the President of Russia Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
The G7 countries announced that they would hold Russia responsible for war crimes and refuse to recognise any Russian territorial gains.
European Union countries said separately that more punishment was coming, after the bloc already cut several Russian lenders from the SWIFT banking system, curbed trade with Moscow and targeted some of the wealth held by Russian oligarchs in the West. The European Union diplomat, Josep Borrel said, “It’s Putin’s war, and only Putin can end it”.
Published By – Vanshu Mehra
