The White House on Monday reacted coolly to a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the West to impose a no-fly zone for Russian flights over Ukraine, Reuters reported.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that US participation in such a move would be tantamount to a direct conflict with Moscow and would be a step toward sending US troops to fight Russia, something Washington seeks to avoid.
"A no-fly zone would require implementation," she said, adding it would require "deploying US military to enforce, which would be ... potentially a direct conflict, and potentially a war with Russia, which is something we are not planning to be a part of."
Asked separately about a no-fly zone for Russian flights over the United States, Psaki said nothing was off the table, but noted that many US airlines fly over Russia to get to Asia and other parts of the world.
Her comments came after Zelensky urged the West to consider imposing a no-fly zone for Russian missiles, planes and helicopters in response to Russian shelling of the city of Kharkiv.
In a video address, Zelensky said Russia had launched 56 rocket strikes and fired 113 cruise missiles in the past five days since beginning its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The Ukrainian President accused Russia of committing war crimes and said it should be brought before an international tribunal.
The West has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, including closing much of Europe’s airspace to civilian Russian aircraft.
On Sunday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union is poised to bar all Russian aircraft from entering the airspace of all 27 member states.
On Saturday, world leaders decided to cut off Russian financial institutions from using the SWIFT money transfer system.
A day earlier, the European Union announced it would freeze the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson followed the EU and also announced on Friday that the UK will be implementing sanctions against Putin and Lavrov effective immediately.
Later, the US also announced sanctions on Putin and Lavrov.