Ukraine’s partners should join forces to counter Russia, in particular by implementing joint patrols of Ukrainian airspace.
This proposal was made in an interview with Ukrinform by security expert Stefanie Babst, former head of NATO’s Strategic Foresight Group and former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy at NATO.
“We, the West and Ukraine, must alter the strategic dynamic towards Russia. Regrettably, there is no sufficient political will in Berlin, Paris and London. But there are other people in Europe who have a clearer view. Making Ukraine a full-fledged member of the Joint Expeditionary Force and pushing Canada, Poland, Germany and other European countries to join would be a useful step forward to strengthen Europe’s defense posture and operate without U.S. support,” Babst said.
She has long advocated for the creation of a Joint Air Protection Zone over cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Lviv. The expert explains that members of the Coalition of the Willing could work together with the Ukrainian Air Force to intercept Russian drones and missiles. They could patrol the skies over these cities with fighter jets and use electronic warfare and air defense systems to prevent Russia from destroying these cities and killing even more Ukrainians with missiles and drones.
