THUNDER BAY – Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky once again pushed for a no-fly zone to be established over his country during a speech to Parliament on Tuesday, but Canada and other NATO members have repeatedly refused this request, saying it would only escalate the conflict by forcing NATO countries to enforce the ban on Russian jets in Ukrainian skies by force.
“We've been friends with you, Justin, but also I would like you to understand and I would like you to feel this. What we feel every day. We want to live and we want to be victorious,” Zelensky said to the full House chamber on Tuesday.
“Can you imagine when you call your friends, your friendly nations and you ask: ‘Please close the sky. Close the airspace. Please stop the bombing. How many more cruise missiles have to fall on our cities until you make this happen?’ And they in return express their deep concerns about the situation,” Zelensky continued, in Ukrainian, referencing his request for NATO countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski believes that Canada and other NATO countries have a responsibility to take a humanitarian stand regardless of the possible broadening of the conflict, because, in his opinion, this conflict is likely going to broaden either way.
“He’s been brazenly threatening other countries over any sort of support for Ukraine, and based on that, I think he’s clearly shown himself to be someone you can’t trust and unreliable,” said Powlowski.
“At some point, we have to take a humanitarian stand in terms of preventing the death of innocent people. And I think if Putin is going to escalate the war based on protecting humanitarian corridors by having a no-fly-zone, if he’s going to use that as an excuse to escalate the war, he’s going to escalate the war anyhow.”
Powlowski was very clear in that these views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the government or his party’s official stance on the conflict in Ukraine.
According to Powlowski, all parties in the House of Commons agree that Canada needs to help Ukraine during the invasion by Russia, a rare show of unity between the parties, but the discrepancies lie in the amount of support each party believes is appropriate for the situation.
“It’s a difficult decision; everyone’s afraid of how crazy is Putin? Is he crazy enough to drop an atomic bomb? Is he crazy enough to broaden this conflict to all NATO countries? We don’t know,” said Powlowski.
“We do know that Putin, as I say, doesn’t seem to be moved by causing a lot of casualties, including a lot of Russian casualties. He doesn’t seem moved by the economic implication of his action. He doesn’t seem to be moved by the fact that he’s totally undermined the international legal order which has really created peace since the Second World War.”
President Zelensky also made the same plea to the United States Congress on Wednesday and Igor Novikov, a former adviser to Zelensky, says the Ukrainian president will keep pushing for a no-fly-zone because he believes it's the best way to safeguard human lives.
