Volodymyr Zelensky is rising to the occasion at a time of peril for his nation. There are those who are saying that we are witnessing the rise of a Washington or a Churchill. That may very well be. Zelensky is looking like a rose while Putin is looking like the stuff you fertilize roses with. Zelensky says Ukraine can “beat the aggressor” if Western “allies do their part.” That includes establishing a no fly zone and Joe Biden doesn’t want to do it. Neither does NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg. Axios:
Driving the news:Â Zelensky, who remains in Ukraine under siege from Vladimir Putin, said in a statement to Axios provided through an adviser: “If the West does this, Ukraine will defeat the aggressor with much less blood.”
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“The sanctions are heading in the right direction. In addition to disconnecting the Russian Central Bank from SWIFT and providing more Stingers and anti-tank weapons, we need the West to impose a no-fly zone over significant parts of Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
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“Ukraine can beat the aggressor. We are proving this to the world. But our allies must also do their part.”
But, but, but:Â “Here’s what’s important for everybody to know about a no-fly zone: What that would require is implementation by the U.S. military. It would essentially mean the U.S. military would be shooting down Russian planes,” Psaki told MSNBC.
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“That is definitely escalatory, that would potentially put us into a place where we’re in a military conflict with Russia. That is not something the president wants to do.”
The refusal to impose a no fly zone is a compelling one. It would involve shooting down Russian planes, in a worst case scenario, and that could send this conflict spiraling out of control toute suite, especially since Putin is purportedly hovering over the red button afte having put his nuclear forces on high alert this weekend.
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“We have no intentions of moving into Ukraine neither on the ground or in the airspace,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told MSNBC on Monday. “We have a responsibility to make sure that this doesn’t spiral out of control that escalates even further into concern for full-fledged war in Europe involving NATO allies.”
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U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has also ruled out the idea, saying that “NATO would have to effectively declare war on Russia.”
Between the lines:Â In Washington, only a very hawkish minority is publicly advocating a no-fly zone.
- On Capitol Hill, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) tweeted Friday that the U.S. should “declare a #NoFlyZone over Ukraine” to disrupt Russia’s air operations and “give the heroic Ukrainians a fair fight.”
Kinzinger’s call was met with prompt criticism from members of both parties.
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Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) in a statement Saturday rejected calls for the U.S. and NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying it could pull America into war with Russia.
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“A no-fly zone is enforced, not declared. It requires our fighter jets to go directly against Russian fighter jets, to get them to stay out of a certain airspace. If the United States were to do this, our fighter jets would potentially have to shoot down Russian jets. This would mean the United States declaring war on Russia.”
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“No. This is insane,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) also tweeted in response to Kinzinger’s tweet.”
Never thought I’d take Thomas Massie’s side against Adam Kinzinger’s, but it’s a sign of the strange times we live in.
IMO, our service members are doing things that we are not aware of. Drones? Amazing what drones can do. Intel to Ukraine? Of course. For me, though, it’s not enough. Too many have already died from the brutality Vlad is perpetrating with missles, fire, etc.
The dying is going to continue regardless. Putin is more than making sure of that as we speak. My guess is that the current US assessment is that if he uses the bulk of his supplies today, he’ll be less of a threat in the coming days. NOT harmless but less. Remember that those missiles need fuel too, something he’s running short on.
There is a limit to what the West can do. Beyond it there will be war between East and West. I’m not sure anyone really wants this because it will very quickly degenerate into a nuclear confrontation.
Right…and if Putin’s supplies ARE running short, he may find himself at a disadvantage soon enough.
He thought it would be over by now. It isn’t – and they’re having to use Belarus to overfly.
Little history lesson, folks: that’s how the First World War got started. Bigger and bigger nations got dragged into the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia until finally EVERYTHING was on fire. That is probably why NATO is staying well out of this (officially, anyway…unofficially, I expect there’s a lot of back channel support).
Still, I also see why Zelensky would push for such a no-fly zone, given how his cities are getting pounded by missile fire and bombs. My one doubt is whether there would indeed be less blood as much as he thinks.
I think he’s saying he doesn’t want other countries drawn into fighting directly. Supplies are fine, volunteer soldiers are fine, but don’t fly the aircraft.
You might want to study that history just a little more closely, Bareshark. The First World War was bound to happen because of alliances that had been formed before the War started.
Germany and Russia were drawn in because of each country’s alliance with Austria-Hungary and Serbia, respectively plus Russia saw itself as the “Defender of the Slavic Race” but there was a lot of infighting between the Slavs which is why Bulgaria–another Slavic country–joined the Austrian side; Bulgaria claimed that the Slavic people in Serbia’s Macedonia region were actually Bulgarians (a view that has persisted to this day although Bulgaria accepts the country’s existence, even as it views Macedonians as a subgroup of Bulgarians) and, during both world wars, Bulgaria occupied large swaths of modern-day North Macedonia.
France and Britain were drawn in due to their own alliances with each other and with Russia. Italy had an alliance with Germany and had formed an alliance with Germany and Austria (mainly because Italy had some issues with France that had actually intensified prior to WW1) but, ultimately, Italy would join Britain, France and Russia because of its own claims over the eastern Adriatic coast (controlled mostly by Austria) and saw the prospect of getting those territories if Austria lost (of course, it wouldn’t get almost any of the territory after the war–aside from the northern port of Trieste–but its prospects of getting any as part of the “Triple Alliance” were zero no matter regardless; a victorious Austria wouldn’t cede any of its territory to an ally and a defeated Austria wouldn’t necessarily be required to cede any of its territory to an ally).
Best to stay out of a family brawl but have clear lines in the sand. Thank God we have a president who has the experience, the wisdom & the heart for dealing with this. Trump’s response? I’ll bomb Ukraine for you master. U should appoint my former campaign director president of Ukraine ??