![]() Indeed, warfare is already a kind of kinetic, violent negotiation of sorts- politics by other means. This posturing is all part of the broader negotiation over who will impose (then enforce) which rules on the battlefield, and under what conditions. Collapsing the entire discussion to a premature hysteria about nuclear apocalypse does nobody any favors. A NATO-enforced NFZ over Ukraine would be far trickier than any NFZ in human history. or NATO jets over Ukraine? Rules of engagement are already notoriously tricky and require very careful consideration. Would an NFZ mean targeting jets operating in Russian air space near Ukraine? What if those jets shoot at U.S. and its NATO allies need to think through their response. aircraft? Will they use only air defense systems located in Ukraine?įor each of those decisions, the U.S. jets? Could they provoke an attack on unarmed Russian transport aircraft? Will they use ground-based defenses to take out U.S. But just because a NFZ would expand the conflict doesn’t mean there aren’t greater and lesser degrees of commitment.Įven advance deliberations over a hypothetical NFZ will force Russia to make serious choices. ![]() forces in the fight by imposing a no-fly zone (NFZ) over Ukraine would be a very serious escalation. Make no mistake, the direct intervention of NATO and U.S. There are some important intermediate steps you can’t skip.įor example, on Saturday, March 5, The New York Times reported that Putin warned the widespread and devastating economic sanctions imposed on his country were “akin to a declaration of war.”Īre we to treat that as a threat of nuclear war as well? If the Western response to a Putin nuclear threat is always going to involve running away, that’s an invitation to Putin-and everyone else with the bomb-to tell us that the response to anything and everything will be nuclear. ![]() It’s like forwarding matches from a dating app to a wedding planner. Jumping to the conclusion that literally every move by NATO will lead to an apocalyptic war for the ages is grossly premature. The management of a conflict's size and scope are things that participants try to closely monitor and manage. “We cannot afford to let that happen,” he added.The problem now is that preemptively panicking over potential escalation effectively grants Vladimir Putin control over the size and scale of the conflict.Ĭrucially, just because a conflict could grow into a larger-scale, multi-nation fight doesn’t mean it necessarily will. This is the third world war in anybody’s language. It amounts to 30 countries against Russia. “This becomes a struggle between the forces of Nato and the forces of Russia, on the ground, quite probably from the sea, in the air, in the space domain, in the information domain and in the cyber domain. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is not like Iraq we’re up against sophisticated enemy with very capable air defence assets. General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, Nato’s former deputy supreme allied commander, has said Nato cannot impose a no-fly zone on Ukraine as this would lead to the 'third world war'. "That would involve British fighter jets shooting down Russian fighter jets, probably over Ukraine, that would lead to Article Five triggering of Nato and Nato is a self-defence pact, all 30 countries will come to each other’s aid, the triggering of that Article Five would lead to a war against Russia across the whole of Europe." Russian troops have entered Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv following days of intensive bombardment, but Mr Wallace said Mr Putin's forces were not yet in control of it. The Russian President, Mr Wallace said, knows 'no limits'.Īnd he said the leadership of the Russian military was 'ruthless' and prepared to lay 'siege' to cities and towns.Ī former Nato commander, meanwhile, said a Nato no-fly zone couldn't be imposed on Ukraine because it 'would lead to the third world war'. His comments come as UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned Russia would likely use indiscriminate carpet bombing against Ukrainian cities as Vladimir Putin's forces close in on the capital, Kyiv - and again rejected calls for RAF jets to enforce a no-fly zone. Ukraine Russia LIVE updates as ex-NATO commander warns 'no-fly zone would cause third world war' and hospital attacked.Lavrov has said that Russia, which launched what it called a special military operation against Ukraine last week, would face a 'real danger' if Kyiv acquired nuclear weapons. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said on Wednesday that if a third World War were to take place, it would involve nuclear weapons and be destructive, the RIA news agency reported. ![]() A third world war would be 'nuclear and destructive', a Russian minister has warned.
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