Ukrainian President Zelenskiy urges NATO to shoot down Russian missiles
Western capitals have resisted encouraging such direct NATO involvement, fearing Russian retaliation, say analysts.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should shoot down Russian missiles in Ukrainian airspace, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
He urged the US and its European allies Europe to do more to defend Ukraine, in an interview with The New York Times in Kyiv on Monday (20 May).
Regarding NATO's role, he said "What's the problem? Why can't we shoot them down? Is it defence? Yes. Is it an attack on Russia? No. Are you shooting down Russian planes and killing Russian pilots? No. So what's the issue with involving NATO countries in the war? There is no such issue."
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Western capitals have resisted encouraging such direct NATO involvement, fearing Russian retaliation, say analysts.
Zelensky drew a comparison to how the US and Britain helped Israel shoot down a barrage of drones and missiles from Iran last month.
He said he had also appealed to senior US officials to allow Ukraine to fire US missiles and other weaponry at military targets inside Russia, a tactic the US continues to oppose. The inability to do so, he said, gave Russia a "huge advantage" in cross-border warfare that it is exploiting with assaults in Ukraine's northeast.
Zelensky spoke with a mixture of frustration and bewilderment at the West's reluctance to take bolder steps to ensure that Ukraine wins the war, reports The New York Times.
His pleas came at a critical time for Ukraine's war effort. Its army is in retreat and a new package of US arms has yet to arrive in sufficient quantities. Not since the early days of the war has Ukraine faced as grave a military challenge, analysts say.
"Shoot down what's in the sky over Ukraine," Zelensky said. "And give us the weapons to use against Russian forces on the borders."
