Baerbock: NATO will not close sky over Ukraine as it is responsible for lives of Europeans

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Annalena Baerbock said this on the air of German TV channel ARD, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"It will mean that NATO planes will fire on Russian planes, it will mean NATO's direct involvement in the conflict… We have a responsibility to protect our own people," said Baerbock, who attended a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Friday.

According to her, the bloc is responsible for the lives of millions of Europeans and cannot risk Putin's war in Ukraine spreading to other countries and becoming a third world war, so "we must keep a cool head."

At the same time, the minister noted that the reproaches of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky "strike right in the heart."

The German Foreign Minister said that recent events had shown that there were no "red lines" for Putin, so NATO needed to strengthen its eastern borders to be able to protect its allies. She added that Germany supported Poland’s transfer of Soviet-style aircraft to Ukraine (to which Warsaw has not yet agreed).

Germany, in turn, will see what else it can provide to Kyiv from its reserves. At the same time, the German Foreign Minister noted that not all agreements should be discussed in public.

Baerbock is convinced that the imposition of Western sanctions and the supply of weapons will have an effect, and the pressure on the Russian leadership is growing. However, the co-chair of the Green Party was cautious in calling for a complete abandonment of Russian energy imports, noting that "such preparations must be made well." She added that the sanctions do not produce an immediate effect, that they should last for a long time and not be lifted soon after implementation.

On February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops are shelling and destroying key infrastructure, conducting massive shelling of Ukrainian towns and villages using artillery, multiple rocket launcher systems, and ballistic missiles.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced.

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