More than two dozen foreign policy experts have signed a letter to the Biden administration calling for a "limited no-fly zone" over Ukraine, Politico reported Tuesday.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has requested a no-fly zone as his country tries to defend itself against Russia's unprovoked invasion.
President Joe Biden and NATO officials have refused Zelenskyy's plea for a no-fly zone because, they say, it would lead to a broader European war.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Sunday said that declaring a no-fly zone over embattled Ukraine "means World War III."
However, 30 foreign policy heavyweights signed an open letter to Biden urging for a "limited no-fly zone" over Ukraine, Politico reported.
"What we seek is the deployment of American and NATO aircraft not in search of confrontation with Russia but to avert and deter Russian bombardment that would result in massive loss of Ukrainian lives," the letter read, Politico reported. "This is in addition to the request from Ukrainian leaders for A-10 and MIG-29 aircraft to help Ukrainians defend themselves, which we also strongly support."
The following is a list of the 30 signatories:
- Anders Aslund, senior fellow, Stockholm Free World Forum
- Stephen Blank, senior fellow/Foreign Policy Research Institute
- Gen. (ret.) Philip Breedlove, former supreme allied commander Europe
- Ian Brzezinski, former deputy assistant secretary of defense
- Orest Deychakiwsky, former policy adviser, U.S. Helsinki Commission
- Larry Diamond, senior fellow, Hoover Institution and Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University
- Paula Dobriansky, former under secretary of state for global affairs
- Eric S. Edelman, former under secretary of defense
- Evelyn Farkas, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia
- Daniel Fried, former assistant secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to Poland
- Andrew J. Futey, president, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America
- Melinda Haring, deputy director, Atlantic Council Eurasia Center
- John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine
- Lt. Gen. (ret.) Ben Hodges, former commanding general, U.S. Army Europe
- Glen Howard, president, Jamestown Foundation
- Donald Jensen, Johns Hopkins University
- Ian Kelly, former U.S. ambassador to Georgia and OSCE
- John Kornblum, former assistant secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to Germany
- Shelby Magid, associate director, Atlantic Council Eurasia Center
- Robert McConnell, co-founder, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation
- Claire Sechler Merkel, senior director, McCain Institute for International Leadership
- David A. Merkel, former deputy assistant secretary of state and director, National Security Council
- Barry Pavel, senior vice president and director, Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
- Herman Pirchner, president, American Foreign Policy Council
- Michael Sawkiw Jr., director, Ukrainian National Information Service
- Leah Scheunemann, deputy director, Atlantic Council Transatlantic Security Initiative
- Benjamin L. Schmitt, former European energy security adviser, U.S. Department of State
- William Taylor, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine
- Alexander Vershbow, former U.S. ambassador to Russia and NATO
- Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and special representative for Ukraine negotiations
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