Why didn't the British close the skies over Ukraine? Boris Johnson explains

The introduction of a no-fly zone over Ukraine was not discussed because of the risk of direct conflict with Russia by Western countries, The Telegraph reports, citing former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“Ben Wallace was very clear that it would mean me giving orders, or him giving orders, to our pilots to shoot down Russian fast jets,” Johnson said in the documentary Putin vs the West, an excerpt from which the newspaper quoted.

Johnson is referring to former Defence Secretary in his cabinet Ben Wallace. The no-fly zone regime implies the imposition of an external ban on the use of airspace over the territory where hostilities are taking place.

The last time NATO countries imposed a no-fly zone over Libya was as part of a military intervention in that country.