Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has explained why NATO did not impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Source: Stoltenberg in his memoir On My Watch, excerpts cited by The Sunday Times, as reported by European Pravda

Details: In his memoir, the former NATO chief recalls the "painful moment" in February 2022 when he rejected President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's desperate plea to introduce a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said he feared that their conversation could have been the Ukrainian president's last phone call, as the West feared for his life.

Quote: "He called me from a bunker in Kyiv with Russian tanks just up the road. And he said: 'I accept you're not sending in NATO ground troops, though I disagree. But please close the airspace. Prevent the Russian planes, drones and helicopters from flying and attacking us.'"

Details: Stoltenberg recalled that NATO had previously closed the airspace over certain countries to protect civilians – for example, over Bosnia and Herzegovina and over northern Iraq, where it was necessary to protect the Kurds.

However, in response to Zelenskyy's request, the NATO secretary general said no.

He explained that closing the airspace over Ukraine would have required NATO to destroy Russian air defence systems in Belarus and Russia, since Western fighter jets could not operate safely in Ukraine while being targeted by Russian missiles.

Quote: "And if there is a Russian plane or helicopter in the air, we have to shoot it down and then we are in full war between NATO and Russia. And we're not willing to do that. As Biden, who was US president at the time, put it, we will not risk a third world war for Ukraine."

Details: Stoltenberg added that ending that phone call with Zelenskyy was "painful", knowing the Ukrainian president's life was in danger.

Background:

• In his memoir, Stoltenberg also described the tense 2022 negotiations on Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO, including how he lost his temper with then Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
• He also recalled that US President Donald Trump considered excluding several countries from NATO during his first term.

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