Wednesday, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) argued against meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to enforce a no-fly zone amid Russia’s invasion.
In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Kelly noted that such action would result in Russian airplanes getting shot down, which would mean the United States was at war with Russia. The Arizona Democrat added it was “in the best interest of everybody for us to avoid being at war with Russia.”
“The first thing we would have to do is suppress the enemy air defenses, so we would have to take out the Russian surface-to-air missile sites. And then, as Russian airplanes are flying, you have to enforce the no-fly zone, so you have to shoot them down. And we can do that, but then we’re in a direct combat action with the Russian military,” Kelly outlined in an interview that aired on “CNN Newsroom.” “And that means we are at war with Russia. And at this point, I think it is in the best interest of everybody for us to avoid being at war with Russia. Russia has 6,000 nuclear warheads. We have 5,500.”
He concluded, “The support we’re giving Ukraine right now is effective.”
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