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NATO has categorically ruled out a no-fly zone over Ukraine. In doing so, the West is giving Russia a free hand to destroy Ukraine. This must stop!

Russia has launched a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, whose inhabitants it calls its "sisters and brothers". The Russian army is mercilessly shelling military and civilian targets: children, the elderly, the disabled and pregnant women die in the hail of missiles, as do the soldiers. Those who can flee, flee. Millions of refugees leave the country in panic.

Western governments and the EU have adopted an unprecedented package of sanctions against Russia and are supplying defensive weapons to Ukraine - good! But this is not enough. The Russian army will have conquered the country faster then the sanctions take effect. And then, the window of opportunity for direct intervention will close for a long time. Ukraine will be a ruin. A cemetery.

NATO has declared that it will not intervene in this war under any circumstances because Ukraine is not an ally. A no-fly zone would also be out of question. The West is thus giving Russia Carte Blanche for the complete destruction of Ukraine. The categorical exclusion of a no-fly zone prolongs the West's long series of fatal misjudgements in its relationship with Russia.

Everyone knows: A no-fly zone is associated with military risk. Therefore, we are not calling for the establishment of such a zone, nor are we calling for NATO itself to establish it: NATO members, such as the USA and Great Britain, which, in alliance with Russia, guaranteed Ukraine's independence and sovereignty in the "Budapest Memorandum" in 1994, are also eligible. But what we demand most emphatically, is:

NATO and its members must no longer categorically rule out a no-fly zone over Ukraine with immediate effect! No free pass for Putin!

The Ukrainian citizens are no longer the "sisters and brothers of Russia" - they are now OUR sisters and brothers. Let's protect them as best we can.