Ukraine’s President Seeks No Fly-Zone As Russian Troops Encircle Capital

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the West to impose a no-fly zone for Russian aircraft over Ukraine after Moscow bombarded the country’s second-largest city Kharkiv and ceasefire talks broke off.

“Fair negotiations can occur when one side does not hit the other side with rocket artillery at the very moment of negotiations,” Zelensky said. He did not specify how and by whom a no-fly zone would be enforced.

He spoke as officials announced that in Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million people, Russian airstrikes killed dozens of civilians, including children.

Zelenskiy said such tragedies underscored that it was time to block Russian missiles, planes, and helicopters from Ukraine’s airspace.

However, Washington ruled out a no-fly zone above Ukraine, with officials citing concerns about escalating tensions between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers, the United States and Russia.

The U.S. had officially ruled out sending troops to fight Russia, though an American security source told Worthy News that U.S. forces are in Ukraine.

IMPLEMENTATION TROUBLES

“A no-fly zone would require implementation,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. Such a move would require “deploying U.S. military to enforce, which would be… potentially a direct conflict, and potentially a war with Russia, which is something we are not planning to be a part of,” she added.

Backed by airpower the West seemed unlikely to interrupt, Russian troops also entered other country areas on day 5 of the Russian invasion.

A massive convoy of Russian armor, nearly 17 miles long (28.2 kilometers), advanced on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, satellite images showed.
Air raid sirens were heard in Kyiv with reports of a Russian strike on the city’s outskirts.

The fighting came as negotiators for Kyiv and Moscow talked in Belarus but failed Monday in a bid to end the conflict. Moscow said, however, that both sides agreed to continue talking and will meet again “in the next few days.”

Before the meeting, Ukraine’s President Zelensky urged Russian troops to lay down their weapons and called for immediate EU membership.

He also asked Belarus not to support Moscow militarily after Russia’s ally approved sending troops and hosting Russian nuclear weapons. But with fighting ongoing, there were no signs Monday that tensions would ease.

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