The foreign ministers of the Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) showed their agreement this Friday that no allied aircraft should fly over Ukraine’s airspace or allow its troops to enter there, after the request of Kyiv to help impose a no-fly zone over the country.
The secretary general of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, indicated, at the end of an extraordinary meeting of the ministers, that the possibility of a no-fly zone was mentioned but that, “at the same time, the allies agreed that we should not have aircraft of NATO operating in Ukrainian airspace or NATO troops on Ukrainian territory’.
“We do not want to be part of the conflict with Russia in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg settled, at a press conference.
The former Norwegian prime minister said he understood the desperation of the Ukrainians, but recalled that the only way for the Alliance to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be by entering its airspace, which could lead to war in Europe.
He noted that if NATO became directly involved, there would be more suffering and more civilian deaths, which is why the allies have chosen to impose sanctions on Moscow.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmitro Kuleba, participated in the meeting, through a recorded message, to whom the allies expressed their “solidarity and deep respect for the courage of the Ukrainian people and its armed forces.”
“What is happening in Ukraine is horrible, on a scale not seen since World War II,” said Stoltenberg, who called on Russian President Vladimir Putin “to stop this war immediately, withdraw all his forces from Ukraine unconditionally and engage in real diplomacy now.”
He said it is “the worst military aggression in Europe for decades, with cities besieged, hospitals and residential buildings bombed, and many civilians killed or injured. The days to come are likely to be worse.”
The Allied Secretary General also stated that NATO has decided to strengthen coordination and information sharing with Finland and Sweden, countries that attended the meeting as guests.
In addition, the allied ministers discussed the need to support other partners that may be at risk, including Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
He stated that those countries are very different from each other but that they have in common, like Moldova, that Russia is exercising its power to intimidate them.
He recalled that Russia has already invaded Georgia, where its troops control parts of the territory, and that they are also present in Transnistria, in Moldova, while in Bosnia-Herzegovina “we see a very fragile and unstable situation, with inflammatory rhetoric and serious dangers for unity.” of that state.”
“Russia’s aggression has created a new normal for our security, in which fundamental principles are challenged through the use of force. And we face the threat of conflict for years to come,” Stoltenberg concluded.