tom bateman there injerusalem. this week, we ve heard repeated calls from the ukrainian president for nato to impose a no fly zone over ukraine something the alliance has consistently refused to contemplate. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera explains the reasons why. it was a demand repeated again by the president zelensky and its video conference call with american senators, we ll hear more about that in a few minutes. first, our security correspondent gordon correra has been examining why the west is so anxious to avoid a no fly zone. russian aircraft had been in the skies over ukraine, outnumbering defenders. that s led to calls for what s known as a no fly zone to prevent them posing a threat. so far, the western military alliance nato has been reluctant to use its air power to impose such a zone, in which other planes would be told not to fly over ukraine. why the reluctance? the concern is that, in practice, a no fly zone carries real risks.
object. russian aircraft have been in the skies over ukraine, outnumbering defenders. that s led to calls for what s known as a no fly zone to prevent them posing a threat. so far, the western military alliance nato has been reluctant to use its air power to impose such a zone, in which other planes would be told not to fly over ukraine. why the reluctance? the concern is that, in practice, a no fly zone carries real risks. if the russians flyjets like these into ukrainian airspace, then nato planes would directly engage them in combat in the skies. but it also means taking out threats on the ground to nato planes so they can enforce the zone, so potentially attacking russian surface to air missile sites, and russia has advanced sa00 systems which could, in theory, shoot down nato planes even from over the border in belarus. nato has been building up its air power in the region but its secretary general yesterday ruled out a no fly zone because of the risk it would lead