Ottawa, March 10: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he was forced to deny Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to authorize a no-fly zone over Ukraine citing fears about triggering an escalation from Russian forces.
Trudeau confirmed Zelensky asked him directly to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine during a phone call Thursday.
Trudeau called the request and resulting response “heartbreaking,” noting that Zelensky has been asking for the no-fly zone for “many days.”
“It is something that is heartbreaking. To have to say we can do so many things to support, but the risk of escalation, the risk of spreading… of involving NATO in a direct conflict if we send NATO planes over Ukraine to shoot down Russian planes,” Trudeau said.
“We can do an awful lot and we’re doing everything we can. But we can’t do that.”
There have been ongoing calls for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of the country despite the repeated rejection of the idea by western leaders concerned about triggering a wider war in Europe.
A no-fly zone would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine. Western nations imposed such restrictions over parts of Iraq for more than a decade following the 1991 Gulf War, during the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1993-95, and during the Libyan civil war in 2011.
Declaring a no-fly zone could force NATO pilots to shoot down Russian aircraft, which NATO leaders fear would lead to an all-out escalation in Europe.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada is throwing “everything we have at this,” noting that the economic sanctions placed on Russia by Canada and others have forced the Ruble into freefall.
