The Economist explains

What is a no-fly zone?

What sounds like a humanitarian measure is also an act of war

Three U.S. Boeing F-15 Strike Eagle aircraft conduct combat air maneuvers in the vicinity of Los Llanos air base on February 22, 2022, in Albacete, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. The maneuvers are conducted during one of the NATO Tactical Leadership Program (TLP) courses, better known as NATO Pilot School. Currently, the TLP organization is made up of ten NATO countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, England, Italy, Spain and the United States, although other nations also participate by contracting their assistance. The pilots take advantage of these practices to prepare themselves for a possible war in Ukraine. Photo by A. Perez Meca/Europa Press/ABACAPRESS.COM

AS VLADIMIR PUTIN’S army closes in on Kyiv, and Russian rockets fall on Ukrainian cities, America and its allies are being asked to step in. On February 28th Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, repeated his earlier request for the West to “impose a no-fly zone over significant parts of Ukraine”. Some influential people agree. “Are we going to sit and watch while a world power invades and destroys and subjugates a sovereign nation?” asked Philip Breedlove, a former American general who commanded NATO forces until 2016, in an interview with Foreign Policy, a magazine.

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