Russian president also says Western sanctions against his country following Ukraine invasion are akin to a declaration of war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Western powers against imposing a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine, saying any such attempt by another country would be seen as a step into the military conflict between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
“Any movement in this direction will be considered by us as participation in an armed conflict by that country,” Putin said during a meeting with Aeroflot employees outside of Moscow on Saturday
He added that imposing a no-fly zone would have “colossal and catastrophic consequences not only for Europe but also the whole world”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the absence of a no-fly zone gives Russia the “green light” to continue bombing Ukrainian cities and towns. He has lashed out at NATO for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over his country, warning that “all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you”.
NATO has said a no-fly zone, which would bar all unauthorised aircraft from flying over Ukraine, could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia
But as the United States and other NATO members send weapons to Kyiv and more than 1.2 million refugees spill through the continent, the conflict is already drawing in countries far beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Putin reiterated his aims in Ukraine are to defend Russian-speaking communities through the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of the country so that it becomes neutral.
Ukraine and Western countries have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for the invasion he launched on February 24 and have imposed a sweeping range of sanctions aimed at isolating Moscow
