Ukraine no-fly zone shouldn't be off the table for NATO, says Bergen

Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen says that Canada and other NATO members should not be taking Ukraine's request for a no-fly zone off the table, and should further consider how to protect humanitarian corridors for those fleeing the war.

“I don't think NATO should take anything off the table at this point. And I certainly don't think NATO should be announcing what they will or will not do to Putin. I just don't think that's the best strategy,” Bergen said in an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing on Sunday when asked whether Canada's Conservatives support NATO's position on a no-fly zone.

In his address to Parliament on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky restated his request for NATO countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

“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 said.

Canada has resisted this request as have other allied countries because it would put them in a direct combat positon with Russia, potentially shooting down their planes, and likely triggering an escalated response from Putin’s forces. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly called it a “red line” because it would start an international conflict, though she has vowed to “do everything possible up to that limit.”