U.S. Not Establishing No-Fly Zone Over Ukraine Despite Zelenskyy’s Request

EU Standing Ovation Just a Publicity Stunt?

A senior Pentagon official told reporters on Tuesday that the US is not considering creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine, reiterating the White House’s past statements. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky requested a no-fly zone from NATO to aid him in defeating Russia.

The topic was raised at an off-camera briefing on Tuesday, when the Pentagon gave reporters their views of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. The US military has already stated that a no-fly zone over the nation is not being contemplated, as such a measure would almost certainly be deemed an act of war.

A no-fly zone, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, would require enforcement, which would entail US and NATO jets patrolling the skies over Ukraine and shooting down Russian planes.

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“That is clearly increasing, and it might ultimately lead to a military clash with Russia.” Psaki stated, “That is something the president does not want to do.”

Later that day, Zelensky asked for it again, claiming that it would help Ukraine “fight the invader with considerably less blood.”

“We need the West to enforce a no-fly zone over substantial portions of Ukraine,” Zelensky said in an online statement, adding that this is necessary in addition to anti-Russian sanctions and military shipments to his administration.

“Ukraine is capable of defeating the invader. We are demonstrating this to the rest of the globe. “However, our friends must also play a role,” he asserted.

However, the proposal was not just rejected in the United States. Boris Johnson, who visited Estonia on Tuesday to pose in front of NATO tanks, claimed that being “actively involved in combat with Russia is a significant step that is not being envisaged by any member” of the alliance, and that a no-fly zone is “simply not on the agenda of any NATO member states.”

President Joe Biden informed his colleague Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday that the US will continue to supply weapons, money, and humanitarian supplies to Ukraine.

The White House did not respond to Kiev’s demands for a NATO no-fly zone, which the United States has flatly rejected.

The two presidents addressed Washington’s “continued backing for Ukraine,” including “ongoing deliveries of security assistance, economic support, and humanitarian relief,” according to a White House readout of the Biden-Zelensky chat.

Biden also stated that the United States is “trying to hold Russia responsible, including through sanctions that are already having an impact on the Russian economy.” He indicated last week that the sanctions were intended to have a long-term impact.

Later Tuesday, the US president will deliver his first official State of the Union speech to Congress since entering office.

According to the White House, another item discussed during the talk was “Russia’s intensification of assaults on civilian sites in Ukraine, including today’s explosion near the Babyn Yar Holocaust monument.”

Some US newspapers reported that Russia had targeted the memorial itself after Zelensky stated in a tweet that a bomb had landed “on the same place of Babyn Yar.”

The Babi Yar memorial is around 300 metres (almost 1,000 feet) from the Kiev TV tower, which was attacked earlier on Tuesday. The walkout claimed the lives of five individuals, according to Ukrainian police.

The Russian military has previously warned that it would strike strategically crucial Ukrainian military communication links.

During World War II, Nazi forces slaughtered about 34,000 Jews in Kiev at Babi Yar, commencing with nearly 34,000 on two days in September 1941.

Last week, Moscow sent forces into Ukraine to demilitarise and “denazify” the government in Kiev, alleging “genocide” against the people of two separate areas, Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the existence of neo-Nazi militias like the Azov Regiment in the Ukrainian military.

Kiev has described the attack as an unprovoked invasion, a sentiment shared by the United States and its allies.