More than two dozen foreign policy experts are urging the Biden administration to implement a “limited” no-fly zone over Ukraine, even though the administration and NATO have already ruled it out.
The administration has repeatedly spoken out against such an idea because enforcement could include shooting down Russian planes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for the enactment of a no-fly zone over his country.
This group of policy experts called for the administration and NATO to impose a limited no-fly zone to offer “protection for humanitarian corridors that were agreed upon in talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials on Thursday,” according to a copy of the letter published by Politico on Tuesday.
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“What we seek is the deployment of American and NATO aircraft not in search of confrontation with Russia but to avert and deter Russian bombardment that would result in massive loss of Ukrainian lives,” the group wrote. “It is time for the United States and NATO to step up their help for Ukrainians before more innocent civilians fall victim to Putin’s murderous madness. Ukrainians are courageously defending their country and their freedom, but they need more help from the international community.”
Last month, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki called such a decision “definitely escalating” and said it could put the U.S. “in a military conflict with Russia.”
NATO indicated last week that it has no intentions of establishing a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace as well.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance was “not part of” the warfare between Ukraine and Russia, signaling an unwillingness to escalate the conflict to involve other countries.
Zelensky cited the no-fly zone as the most important request of the U.S. when asked by ABC’s David Muir in an interview that aired on Monday.
“For us, the most important today is the security in the sky. We cannot allow Russia to be active there only because they’re bombing us … [Russian planes] need to be shot down, you have to preserve lives.”
The Department of Defense has made numerous overtures to ensure that the Kremlin cannot claim DOD’s actions are escalatory or threatening.
Last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin decided to postpone a ballistic missile test scheduled for this week to avoid the possibility that the test could be used as a way for Russia to justify war maneuvers. The two sides also have a deconfliction line between them to prevent misunderstandings and unintended escalations.
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Putin warned over the weekend that any country that imposes a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be viewed “as participants of the military conflict.”
While the U.S. and NATO have refused the Ukrainians’ request for a no-fly zone, they have applied significant economic sanctions against Russian leaders, elites, and their banking system, effectively tanking their economy. Additionally, the U.S. is among more than a dozen countries that have provided military supplies and weapons to the Ukrainian military.
