The Ukrainian president wants the collective West to protect his country directly, pointing to how Iran’s strike this past weekend was handled
© Getty Images / Paula Bronstein
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has urged the collective West to become involved in the conflict with Russia and protect Kiev similar to how it aided Israel during the Iranian airstrike over the weekend.
Zelensky issued the appeal in a Telegram post on Monday, showering praise on the “allied action” to help Israel. According to Israeli and Western claims, the vast majority of the projectiles fired by Iran were shot down before even reaching the country’s airspace, primarily by US and UK jets.
“It demonstrated how truly effective unity in defending against terror can be when it is based on sufficient political will. Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Jordan acted together and with maximum efficiency,” Zelensky asserted.
The president said that “no one was dragged into the war” due to the action against Iran, while noting that “Israel is not a NATO member, so no action, such as triggering Article 5, was required.” Zelensky then urged the collective West to provide Ukraine with the same level of support and protect it from Russian long-range strikes.
“European skies could have received the same level of protection long ago if Ukraine had received similar full support from its partners in intercepting drones and missiles,” he stated, pledging to raise the issue with the country’s backers.
Over the course of the conflict, Kiev has repeatedly urged Western nations to provide protection from Russian airstrikes one way or another, up to establishing a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine.
These ideas, however, have never come to fruition over fears that such moves would drag the West into an all-out war with Russia. Moscow has repeatedly warned that it would treat such attempts by any parties as a direct entrance into the conflict on Kiev’s side.
