The NATO foreign ministers showed their agreement this Friday, March 4, for no allied aircraft to fly over Ukraine’s airspace or for its troops to enter there, after Kyiv’s request that it help impose a no-fly zone over the country.

The secretary general of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, pointed out at the end of an extraordinary meeting of ministers that the possibility of a no-fly zone “was mentioned” but that, “at the same time, the allies agreed that we should not have planes of NATO operating in Ukrainian space or NATO troops on Ukrainian territory.”

”We do not want to be part of the conflict with Russia in Ukraine”, settled Stoltenberg, in a press conference.

Asked by Ukrainian journalists whether the Alliance might reconsider its position, the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) hinted that such a decision was impossible.

“It is our responsibility to prevent the escalation of this war and its spread outside of Ukraine because then the situation will become even more dangerous. Therefore, we have made it clear that we will not interfere on the ground or in the air,” Stoltenberg said.

“The only way to secure a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighters into Ukrainian airspace and secure a no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes. If we do that, it could lead to a full-scale war in Europe involving more countries, and will cause even more suffering,” the senior official added.

In addition, he mentioned that this is why NATO member states are putting heavy pressure on Russia with sanctions and providing assistance to Ukraine, but do not want to directly involve their forces.

However, Stoltenberg also announced that NATO is considering “significantly increasing” its forces in the region to “send a message of its presence” in the conflict zone.

On the other hand, he recalled that NATO’s support to Kyiv in the form of arms supplies and training of its armed forces was “crucial” for Ukraine and revealed that member countries plan to expand this aid with more supplies.