“We ask you every day for a no fly zone, if you don't give it to us, at least provide us with airplanes to protect us. If you don't give us these either, there is only one solution: you too want them to kill us slowly. This will also be the responsibility of world politics, of Western leaders. Today and forever ".
This is yet another appeal, launched today, by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who for days has been asking Western leaders for a no fly zone in Ukraine.
Appeal repeatedly rejected by the United States to the sender: "The US does not want a no fly zone over Ukraine because it would mean that American forces should then shoot down Russian planes, which would risk causing an immediate and direct war against Moscow, a ' military escalation that we do not want at the moment, ”explained the White House.
A no reiterated also by London, according to which it would mean "opening a direct confrontation with Moscow with uncontrollable, unpredictable consequences, up to the shadow of a third world war and the nuclear nightmare". In addition, the British Defense Minister Ben Wallace explained, decreeing flights off limits "would mean doing so not only against Putin's aviation, but also the Ukrainian one, whose drones and fighters remain among the most effective weapons to slow down the 'advance of the Russian land army ".
On the other hand, Vladimir Putin himself yesterday issued a warning to the West that smacks of a threat: "Any move in the direction of a no fly zone over Ukraine by any country would be equivalent to a declaration of war, we would consider it a participation in the armed conflict ".
WHAT IS THE NO FLY ZONE - It is a ban on flying over a certain airspace, that of Ukraine in this case. It can be declared by international organizations such as NATO, UN, EU, but also by individual states.
It is not, as it may seem, a defensive action, but a decidedly offensive one. Those who impose it must in fact carry out patrol activities and, if the airspace were violated, they would have to shoot down the enemy aircraft. Not only that, patrolling also means controlling the area without being attacked from the ground, therefore it involves destroying the opponent's anti-aircraft resources, in this case the Russian artillery present on Ukrainian territory.
The no fly zone was used in Libya, where it served France, Great Britain and the US to take down Gaddafi's anti-aircraft forces, and in the first war in Iraq. Not in Syria, even then to avoid a direct confrontation with Moscow, which supported President Bashar al Assad.
(Unioneonline / L)