Explainer-Massive risks keep talk of Ukraine no-fly zone firmly grounded

FILE PHOTO: People take cover as an air-raid siren sounds, near an apartment building damaged by recent shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine February 26, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted repeated calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for an international no-fly zone to protect his country, but these have been roundly rejected by the United States and its NATO allies, who say it could provoke all-out war in Europe.

Proponents, from street protesters in Europe to a group of foreign policy grandees in the United States https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017f-6668-ddc5-a17f-f66d48630000, say a no-fly zone is essential to save lives in Ukraine, but even some of U.S. President Joe Biden's staunchest opponents in Congress have been adamantly opposed, with Republican Senator Marco Rubio warning it could bring about "World War III." https://twitter.com/thisweekabc/status/1500479105527173120?s=21