As Russia intensifies its war in Ukraine, threatening to encircle Kyiv and pounding civilians through punishing artillery strikes on numerous other cities, NATO allies have turned down pleas from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to establish a no-fly zone over the country. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has made it clear: The Alliance believes securing the airspace over Ukraine would escalate the conflict and draw the Alliance into a broader war. 

But there’s plenty NATO member states can still do to protect civilians on the ground short of shooting down Russian aircraft over the country (which would also prevent Ukrainian air assets and humanitarian flights from doing their jobs).

Preventing harm to civilians has been part of the Alliance’s mission since long before the 2016 Warsaw Summit, during which NATO adopted a Policy for the Protection of Civilians (PoC). Recognizing that previous missions in Kosovo and Libya were hampered by a lack of clear guidance on how to protect civilian populations, NATO’s Allied Command Operations (ACO) produced an operational handbook laying out four ways the Alliance can use its military power to ensure the safety of civilians: understanding the human environment, mitigating harm, facilitating access to basic needs, and contributing to a safe and secure environment.

Read full article on the Atlantic Council.