12:11 09-11-2025

Zelensky’s 2022 Request for No-Fly Zone Over Ukraine Rejected by NATO

In February 2022, Zelensky called Stoltenberg from a Kyiv bunker, requesting a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Stoltenberg explains why NATO denied the request to avoid war with Russia.

In an interview with The Times, former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg revealed that in February 2022, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called him from a bunker in Kyiv, urging the creation of a no-fly zone over Ukraine. At the time, Russian tanks were stationed nearby.

Stoltenberg recounted that Zelensky told him, «I accept that you won’t send NATO ground troops. But please, close the airspace». He noted that Zelensky referenced NATO’s previous action in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the alliance imposed a no-fly zone during the Yugoslav conflict.

However, Stoltenberg said he had to deny Zelensky’s request. He explained that if a Russian plane or helicopter entered the restricted airspace, NATO would have been forced to shoot it down, which would have led to a direct military confrontation with Russia. This, he added, was a scenario that no one in the alliance had planned for.