Nato puts fighter jets and warships on alert to prevent Ukraine war spreading

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg vows to deter Russia but rules out Ukraine no-fly zone

U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, poses with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a an extraordinary NATO foreign ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels. AP

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Nato said on Friday it has more than 100 fighter jets on high alert and 200 ships positioned from north to south to deter Russia from escalating the war in Eastern Europe beyond Ukraine.

The alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said it would “do whatever it takes” to defend “every inch of Nato territory” from any Russian attack.

But Nato’s top diplomats confirmed on Friday what Mr Stoltenberg called the “painful decision” to keep their troops and planes out of non-member Ukraine despite the scenes of destruction unfolding there.

Although Ukraine is pleading for a no-fly zone in its airspace, senior western leaders say this would involve shooting down Russian jets and thereby risk a further escalation of the war.

We call on Putin to stop this war immediately

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

“We understand the desperation,” Mr Stoltenberg said, “but we also believe that if we did that, we end up with something that could end in a full-fledged war in Europe.”

As the war entered its second week, there was a brief resumption of east-west talks as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Russian President Vladimir Putin in an hour-long call to call of hostilities and allow access for humanitarian workers. Mr Putin said a third round of ceasefire talks with Ukraine would take place at the weekend.

Nato countries are supporting Ukraine’s resistance with weapons and trying to pressure Russia into backing down by hitting its economy and top leadership with sanctions.

But the attention of foreign ministers turned more broadly on Friday to preventing the war from spreading elsewhere in Europe and exacerbating an already acute humanitarian crisis. Britain on Friday formally launched a scheme for Ukrainians in the UK to bring their extended family to live with them.

Diplomats have spoken of a changed security environment in which countries must prepare themselves for hostility with Russia, with Germany notably turning a historic page by announcing a military ramp-up and exporting weapons to Ukraine.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands near captured Russian tanks, one painted in the colours of the Ukrainian national flag and the other marked with the letter 'Z' in the north of the Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Reuters

Russian military vehicles with the letter 'Z' painted on them. Reuters

French Air Force jets patrol airspace over Poland. Nicolas Tucat / AFP

The patrol is part of Nato's surveillance system. Photo by Nicolas Tucat / AFP

The German-flagged 'Seacod' oil tanker moored at Birkenhead Docks near the Stanlow Oil Refinery in the UK.

A woman holds the hand of a child as they flee Ukraine. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber

A young woman clutches a doll as she crosses the border in Medyka, Poland. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber

A woman weeps after finding a friend at the border crossing in Medyka. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber

People walk with their belongings as they flee Ukraine. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber

Ukrainian refugees arrive at Berlin central station, Germany, from Poland on March 4. EPA / Filip Singer

Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, prompting the country's president to declare martial law and triggering a series of announcements by western countries to impose severe economic sanctions on Russia. EPA / Filip Singer

Military vessels docked at the military harbour of Constanta, Romania, on March 4. Daniel Mihailescu / AFP

A child plays with a pigeon during a protest in San Jose, Costa Rica, against the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Ezequiel Becerra / AFP

Ukrainian citizens in San Jose, Costa Rica, protest against the Russian invasion in Ukraine on March 4. Ezequiel Becerra / AFP

People fleeing Ukraine wait to board a bus in Palanca Village, Moldova. EPA / Dumitru Doru

Ukrainians living in Britain join a protest at Trafalgar Square, London. EPA / Andy Rain

Ludmila Shkarupa, 73, from Ukraine, sits on a chair wrapping herself with a sleeping bag to avoid the cold at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. AP

A view shows a thermal power plant destroyed by shelling amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the town of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region. Reuters

People fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine use mobile devices in a temporary refugee centre located at a local track-and-field athletics stadium in Chisinau, Moldova. Reuters

A local resident walks past the remains of a house of culture following a night air raid in the village of Byshiv, 40 kilometres west of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

A member of the Ukrainian military guards an evacuation train of women and children who fled fighting in Bucha and Irpin. Getty Images

A member of the Ukrainian military gives instructions to women and children that fled fighting in Bucha and Irpin before boarding an evacuation train to Kyiv after heavy fighting overnight forced many to leave their homes. Getty Images

A person demonstrates outside the Russian embassy in London following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Reuters

The Danish rescue group Falck A/S has donated 30 ambulances to Ukraine and neighbouring countries, where they will be used by local emergency services. AFP

An aerial view of the remains of the local house of culture following a night air raid in the village of Byshiv, 40 kilometres west of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

People fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine rest in a temporary refugee centre located at a local track-and-field athletics stadium in Chisinau, Moldova. Reuters

Ukrainian Oleg, who decided to remain in Irpin, comforts his son, Maksim, and his wife, Yana, before the arrival of an evacuation train to the city of Kyiv. EPA

Yevghen Zbormyrsky, 49, runs in front of his burning house after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv. AFP

People remove personal belongings from a burning house after being shelled in Irpin. AFP

Medical workers tend to a Ukrainian serviceman wounded during the fighting with Russian troops near the Ukrainian capital, in a hospital in Kyiv. AFP

A mother of a wounded Ukrainian serviceman waits outside his ward in a hospital in Kyiv. AFP

Refugees from Ukraine arrive at an assistance point organised in the sports hall of a primary school in Lubycza Krolewska in Poland. EPA

A member of Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces at a checkpoint in Kyiv. Reuters

People carry their belongings past the debris of last week's combat in Kyiv. AFP

Shelves in a supermarket stand empty in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine. Reuters

War refugees from Ukraine at the assistance point organised at the Torwar sports hall in Warsaw, Poland. EPA

Ukrainian servicemen, wounded during the fighting with Russian troops near the Ukrainian capital, rest outside a hospital in Kyiv. AFP

A 3-year-old boy watches cartoons on a tablet while his mother sews military vests for the Ukrainian army in the western city of Lviv. AFP

A woman's shock as she stands in front of a house burning after being shelled in Irpin, outside Kyiv. AFP

People fleeing from Ukraine queue to board on a bus at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. AP

Ukrainian refugees are tested for Covid-19 in a reception centre in Vienna, Austria. AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pose with foreign ministers after a meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Reuters

People who fled Ukraine wait for a bus to take them to the train station in Przemysl, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. AP Photo

The extraordinary meeting of Nato ministers of foreign affairs about Russian aggression in Ukraine at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. EPA

Messages in support of Ukraine on a board in the Ukrainian pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. AFP

Firefighters at a warehouse that caught fire after shelling in the village of Chaiky in the Kyiv region. Reuters

The wreckage of a missile at a bus terminal in Kyiv. Reuters

A crater in front of a house damaged by shelling in the village of Hatne. Reuters

The damaged administrative building of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, a city in the Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters

A bright object lands on the grounds of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine, during heavy shelling by Russian forces. AP

Zlata, 3, with her face painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, stands on the Romanian side of the border with Ukraine after fleeing the country. AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends an interview with foreign media in Kyiv. Reuters

Ukrainian artillerymen maintain their position in the Luhansk region. AFP

Women and children try to board a train bound for Lviv, at a station in Kyiv. AP

US soldiers on patrol near a military camp in Arlamow, Poland, near the border with Ukraine. AFP

A woman and child look out the window of a train at a station in Kyiv. AP

A descendant of Ukrainian immigrants attends Mass at a Ukrainian Orthodox church in Canoas, Brazil. Reuters

Boxes of donations destined for Ukraine at the St Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Montreal, Canada. AP

Firefighters battle a blaze at a damaged building in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv after a Russian air raid. AP

A woman in Frankfurt, Germany, attends a protest against Russia's military offensive in Ukraine. AFP

Threats inside and outside Nato

Within the 30-member alliance, the US and European countries have sent thousands more troops to Nato’s eastern flank to defend countries neighbouring Russia such as Lithuania and Estonia.

Mr Stoltenberg said 130 jets were on high alert and 200 ships stationed “from the high north to the Mediterranean” to deter any Russian attack.

Units from a special Nato response force have been deployed for the first time, with 500 French troops flying to Romania to shore up part of the alliance’s eastern border.

Western allies’ response has been cheered by Nato as a show of transatlantic unity at a time when the alliance is facing questions over its future, with France leading calls for the EU to gain more autonomy in defence matters.

But security fears go beyond Nato’s borders, with the outbreak of war reviving a decades-old debate in Finland and Sweden over whether they should join the alliance.

Both countries took part in Friday’s meeting on what Britain has described as one of the biggest days of diplomacy on record, with the Nato talks followed by an EU summit at which the UK, US, Canada and Ukraine were invited as guests.

The two Nordic countries will take part in all Nato consultations over Ukraine crisis and more information will be shared between them and the alliance, the Secretary General said.

Nato is also looking to deter any Russian aggression against non-member Georgia, which fought a war with Russia in 2008, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mr Stoltenberg said such countries could be at risk because the Kremlin had demonstrated a desire to “recreate a sphere of influence” in Eastern Europe and “deny other countries the right to choose their own path”.

Although there were no concrete decisions at Friday’s meeting, foreign ministers agreed that Georgia and Bosnia should receive more training and support in strengthening their defence and security institutions.

Similar support has been provided to Ukraine in recent years, which western leaders credit with helping to slow down the Russian invasion which stretched into an eighth day on Friday.

The Brussels meetings came in the shadow of Russian shelling near an operating nuclear power plant, adding to fears of a radioactive release after invading troops earlier took control of the Chernobyl disaster site.

Mr Stoltenberg said the incident was an example of Russia’s recklessness in waging war against Ukraine.

The days to come “are likely to be worse with more death more suffering and more destruction,” he said, as Russia brings in heavier weaponry and continues its attacks across the country.

“We call on President Putin to stop this war immediately,” said Mr Stoltenberg, and “withdraw his forces from Ukraine without conditions and engage in genuine diplomacy.”

Although western leaders believe their sanctions on Russia are starting to bite, Mr Putin has shown no signs of backing down in what he calls a special operation to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" Ukraine.

Britain says it wants to see more western sanctions, which officials are preparing in the background but were not on the table for approval at Friday’s meeting.

At the EU meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said failing to punish Russia would put the long-cherished principles of self-determination and territorial integrity in doubt beyond Ukraine.

"If we allow those principles to be challenged, as Putin is doing now with impunity," he said, "that will open a Pandora’s box of trouble."