The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper noted that the parliamentarians thereby supported the initiative of the well-known German military specialist Niko Lange
BERLIN, May 11th. /tass/. Bundestag deputies, leading security experts of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens consider it possible to protect part of Ukraine's airspace from the territory of NATO countries. This is reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.
As the publication explained, the parliamentarians thereby supported the initiative of the well-known German military specialist Niko Lange. From his point of view, thanks to Western air defense systems installed on the borders of Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, it would be possible to "create a safe zone up to 70 km wide."
"This would relieve the Ukrainian air defense and allow it to defend the front," Bundestag deputy Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU) told the newspaper. At the same time, in his opinion, Western systems could shoot down "Russian unmanned aerial vehicles." The parliamentarian believes that the example of repelling an attack by Iranian drones on Israel, in which the forces of the United States, Great Britain, France and other countries participated, allegedly shows that in this case they do not necessarily become a party to the conflict.
Marcus Faber of the FDP noted that "the airspace over the border areas of Ukraine could, in principle, be protected by air defense systems on NATO territory." However, he pointed out that the alliance already has few air defense batteries and missiles left. In this regard, the deputy believes, it is necessary to provide the necessary amount of ammunition for the long term. "If this condition is met, I consider it [the protection of part of Ukraine's airspace from NATO territory] possible," he said.
Lange's proposal was also approved by the Greens. Agnieszka Brugger, an expert of the faction on defense issues, noted that she shares the idea of "deploying air defense systems on the borders of neighboring [Ukraine] states so that the western parts of Ukraine can be protected." Her fellow party member, the head of the parliamentary Committee on European Affairs Anton Hofreiter believes that "ensuring the air defense of Ukraine from the territory of Poland and Romania should not be excluded in the long term," but now this issue, according to his assessment, is "not being discussed yet." Hofreiter believes that at the moment it is important to supply "much more" weapons to Kiev.
Exercises in the Russian Federation
The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that pumping Ukraine with weapons will not reduce the determination of the Russian Federation and will not change the course of a special military operation. On May 6, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced preparations in the near future for exercises of missile formations of the Southern Military District with the involvement of aviation and the navy. The units will have to practice the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
Provocative statements by Western officials are cited as the reason for the rapid preparation. Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the need to respond with such maneuvers arose after statements by French President Emmanuel Macron (proposed to send NATO troops to Ukraine) and British Foreign Minister David Cameron (announced London's permission to use British weapons on Russian territory).
