US won’t enforce no-fly zone in Ukraine

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin again reiterated that the United States will not enforce closing the skies in Ukraine, because “a no-fly zone means you’re in a conflict with Russia.”

“From a US perspective, our President, President Biden, has been clear that we would not have US forces fighting in Ukraine. Having said that, we’ll do everything within our power to support Ukraine in its efforts to defend its territory,” Austin said in Bratislava, Slovakia, after meeting with his Slovakian counterpart.

“We’ve also stated enforcing a no-fly zone actually means that you’re in combat, you’re in a fight with Russia, and that’s one of the things that we have said, that our President said we weren’t going to do, get in a fight with Russia,” he said.

“So what this really means is that in order to control the skies, you have to shut down the air defenses there on the ground. And some of those air defense systems are in Russia and so, again, there’s no easy or simple way to do this. There’s no such thing as a no-fly zone light. A no-fly zone means you’re in a conflict with Russia. So from a US perspective, we’re, again, our position remains that we’re not going to do that,” he continued.

Austin added that Ukrainian forces have successfully utilized air defense systems to deter attacks from Russia.

“So our goal has been to continue to reinforce those things that have worked for the Ukrainian forces,” he said, adding the US is talking to allies to provide support.

In his address to the US Congress yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude to Biden for aid the US has delivered so far, but he argued that more assistance is desperately needed. Zelensky specifically reiterated calls for the US to help enforce a no-fly zone in Ukraine to protect civilians.