The US refuses Zelensky's request: NATO will not intervene in Ukrainian airspace

The US does not agree that allied countries neighboring Ukraine shoot down Russian missiles and drones that enter Ukrainian airspace, because that would mean an escalation of the current situation and the involvement of NATO in the current war, he said at the end of last week Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh during a press conference in Washington.

Asked by reporters, why NATO cannot intervene in Ukraine on the model of the US intervention, which, together with other allied states, recently shot down Iranian ballistic missiles from Israel's airspace, Sabrina Singh answered: "We are talking about two situations and battlefields very different. The president, right as Russia invaded Ukraine, ordered the Pentagon to provide Ukraine with everything it needs on the battlefield. (...) The president guaranteed that the United States will not send soldiers to Ukraine, but we support Ukraine in the fight for the liberation of the sovereign territory".

The reporters asked for clarification: "Does that mean that the shooting down of those targets with missiles launched from Polish or Romanian territory would have the same meaning as if the two states were to send soldiers to the Ukrainian front?"

The representative of the Pentagon answered: "That would involve us in a war, in a different way. Currently, we believe that Ukraine has successfully defended itself against Russian attacks on cities, civilians and infrastructure. We will continue to make sure they have the support they need to do that."

The Pentagon's clarifications come after both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Polish officials said NATO's eastern flank allies should step in and shoot down Russian missiles and drones attacking Ukraine's residential buildings, civilians and energy infrastructure .

In response to these requests, according to Russian media, the Kremlin, through Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, and through Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, warned that any such action would have dire consequences for NATO states, because it amounts to the actual entry into war of those countries on the side of Ukraine.