White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday the White House opposes the idea of a “limited no-fly zone” over Ukraine, saying it would escalate tensions between the U.S and Russia.
She explained that even a limited no-fly zone’s enforcement would require attacks on Russian jets that violate it.
“A limited no-fly zone would still require implementation of a no-fly zone, even if it’s a smaller geography, which would still require shooting down Russian planes if they fly into your no-fly zone,” Ms. Psaki told reporters.
“We would still have concerns about that being an escalatory action that could lead us into a war with Russia, which is not something the president intends to do,” she continued.
Ms. Psaki’s remarks come after a group of foreign policy experts urged the Biden administration to impose a “limited no-fly zone” over Ukraine to protect civilians from fleeing the war-ravaged country.
In an open letter to the Biden administration, 27 foreign policy experts called for such a zone to protect humanitarian corridors from Russian attacks.
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“What we seek is the deployment of American and NATO aircraft not in search of confrontation with Russia but to avert and deter Russian bombardment that would result in massive loss of Ukrainian lives. This is in addition to the request from Ukrainian leaders for A-10 and MIG-29 aircraft to help Ukrainians defend themselves, which we also strongly support,” the group wrote in a letter Monday.
Among the notable signatures on the letter included former NATO supreme allied commander Gen. Philip Breedlove; former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor; and former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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