The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has rejected calls from the Ukrainian government to impose a 'no-fly zone' over the country.

Calls to 'close the sky' have been growing louder in Ukraine and among the people of other western nations, but it seems unlikely that the 30-member alliance will take steps to impose such a measure.

What is a 'no-fly zone'?

A no-fly zone, or a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a region or area where a military power has halted the operations of certain aircraft. This can be just passenger vehicles or all types of aircraft including military aircraft.

This exclusion is coercively carried out by the militarist execution of any violations in most situations. That is to say more simply, if any plane is found to be flying in a no-fly zone the imposing military power will shoot it down, either through its own air force or through ground units.

In the past, NFZs have been established over Iraq (during the Gulf war), Bosnia-Herzegovina (during the 1995 Kosovo war), and Libya (during the 2011 international intervention).

Why does Ukraine want an NFZ over its airspace?

The Ukrainian government has been calling for the imposition of an NFZ over its airspace by NATO forces. The country has been facing brutal missile strikes, most of which despite Russian claims are attacking civilian areas. These attacks are resulting in heavy civilian losses and massive damage to civilian infrastructure in the country.

An NFZ over the country would lead to a barrage of missiles, thermobaric bombs, cluster bombs, and more to stop hitting Ukrainian civilians and military infrastructure.

While the Ukrainian air force still remains, not having been eliminated despite Russia's use of missiles to knock out infrastructure, it does not have the sheer numbers to establish air dominance in the Ukrainian airspace.

Why won't NATO establish a NFZ?

While NATO was responsible for establishing the NFZs seen in the past, it is unlikely it will impose one in Ukraine.

The reason behind the move is simple – Iran, Libya, Bosnia-Herzegovina did not involve any nuclear states, but Russia has its own nuclear weapons.

To explain a bit further, imposing a NFZ would mean NATO jets directly engaging in combat with Russian airplanes. While Russia may choose to not risk engagement and stop air operations at the declaration of an NFZ, its blatantly aggressive actions against Ukraine make it clear that it is unlikely to do so.

Since the establishment of NFZ also often involves preemptive strikes on ground targets, airports, stationed aircraft, logistic supplies, etc, NATO forces would also be forced to strike at Russian ground targets. The exact command of an operation could also state that NATO forces only patrol over Ukrainian airspace.

This escalation between Russia and NATO is something that the organisation is trying to avoid, believing it to be a prelude to either WWIII or a nuclear conflict.

“We are not part of this conflict, and we have a responsibility to ensure it does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told press reps.

“We understand the desperation but we also believe that if we did that (a no-fly zone) we would end up with something that could lead to a full-fledged war in Europe involving much more countries and much more suffering,” Stoltenberg said.

NATO's decision to not intervene in setting up an NFZ not only throws up a question of strategic goals (preventing further escalation) but also the moral question of whether the alliance values the lives of NATO citizens more than those of who live in Ukraine.

"Today, there was a NATO summit, a weak summit, a confused summit, a summit where it was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe's freedom to be the number one goal," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a televised address in response to NATO's decision.

"Today, the leadership of the alliance gave the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages, having refused to set up a no-fly zone."

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(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)