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The Problem With the Debate Over Helping Ukraine

Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, explains why discussions about a no-fly zone over Ukraine are not framed in the right way.

By , the editor in chief of Foreign Policy.
Then-NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (left) speaks with then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (right) and then-U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder in Istanbul on Feb 5, 2010.
Then-NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (left) speaks with then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (right) and then-U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder in Istanbul on Feb 5, 2010.
Then-NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (left) speaks with then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (right) and then-U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder in Istanbul on Feb 5, 2010. Murad Sezer/Reuters

Russia’s War in Ukraine

Understanding the conflict one year on.

More on this topic

On March 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the U.S. Congress virtually from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, invoking memories of Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as he appealed for more U.S. assistance in the face of a continued Russian assault. Among his specific requests, Zelensky repeated his call for a NATO-backed “no-fly zone” over Ukrainian airspace.

Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy. Twitter: @RaviReports

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