Ukraine calls for no-fly zone to stop Russian bombardment

KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the West to consider a no-fly zone for Russian aircraft over Ukraine after Moscow bombarded the country’s second-largest city, drawing new sanctions by the United States and its allies.

Russia faces increasing international isolation over its invasion of Ukraine, and hours of negotiations between the two sides on Monday failed to reach a breakthrough to halt the fighting. Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks in Kharkiv killed civilians including children.

In a video address, Zelenskiy said it was time to block Russian missiles, planes and helicopters from Ukraine’s airspace. “Fair negotiations can occur when one side does not hit the other side with rocket artillery at the very moment of negotiations,” Zelenskiy said. He did not specify how and by whom a no-fly zone would be enforced.

The United States has ruled out sending troops to fight Russia and officials have voiced concern about further escalating tensions between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers. “A no-fly zone would require implementation,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

Such a move would require “deploying US 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.”

Western nations, united in condemnation of Russia’s assault, have hit Russia with sanctions, with targets including President Vladimir Putin and his confidants. Putin has shown no sign of reconsidering the invasion unleashed on Russia’s neighbour in an attempt to redraw Europe’s security map and pull Ukraine firmly into its orbit.

The Russian leader put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert. When asked at the White House on Monday if Americans should worry about nuclear war, US President Joe Biden said: “No.” But in a sign of souring relations, the United States expelled 12 Russian diplomats at the United Nations, citing national security concerns. Russia described the move as “hostile.”

The Russian invasion has failed to achieve the decisive early gains that Putin would have hoped for. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour’s military capabilities.

Kharkiv in Ukraine’s northeast has become a major battleground. Kharkiv’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, said four people had died after emerging from a bomb shelter to collect water, and that a family with three children had burned to death in a car.

Earlier, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said Russian rocket strikes on Kharkiv had killed dozens. Moscow’s United Nations ambassador, speaking in New York, said the Russian army did not pose a threat to civilians. Fighting also occurred around the port city of Mariupol and Russian forces seized two small cities around a nuclear plant in southeast Ukraine,

Talks between the two sides were held on the border with strong Russian ally Belarus – a launch pad for invading Russian troops. read more Ukraine had said it wanted to secure an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces.

The meeting ended with officials heading back to capitals for further consultations before a second round of negotiations, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told reporters. “The Russian side, unfortunately, still has a very biased view of the destructive processes it has launched,” Podolyak tweeted.

Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky told reporters: “The most important thing is that we agreed to continue negotiating.” The Western-led response has been emphatic, with sanctions that effectively cut off Moscow’s financial institutions from Western markets.