Ukraine's consul in Barcelona, Artem Vorobiov, has explained that the meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council to be held this Friday in Brussels must help the defence alliance to decide on his government's request to impose an air exclusion zone. Vorobiov says it is a "very decisive and extremely important" decision. "Only in this way can we protect the civilian population of Ukraine, and not just us; only in this way can we protect the nuclear facilities we have in our country from airstrikes. Because otherwise we will have a nuclear catastrophe, and everyone will be hit by that, not just Ukrainians," he warned.
The imposition of a no-fly zone has been called for by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and would involve a ban on flying over the country's airspace. If NATO imposed such a restriction, it would take on the obligation of preventing, intercepting or even shooting down aircraft attempting to violate the restriction. NATO has been reluctant to take such a step, which could have its own nuclear risks. Nevertheless, the Ukraine consul in Barcelona emphasized the dangers in not taking such an action in his address, which took place at an event organized at Catalan government's Palau de la Generalitat to show support for Ukraine, under the slogan "Catalonia, Europe, with Ukraine". Vorobiov's speech was attended by the Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, who presided over the event, foreign minister Victòria Alsina, as well as representatives of the consular corps accredited in Barcelona, led by the French consul, Olivier Ramadous, and the delegate of the European Commission, Manuel Szapiro.
"We are suffering"
The Ukrainian consul recalled that his country has already been suffering the agony of the war for eight days since the Russian forces began their invasion. He stressed that the Ukrainian people are responding to one of the most powerful armed forces in the world and are resisting, but that they are paying a very high price, with more than 2,000 civilians killed. He denounced Russia for attacking infrastructure and cities "with rockets, missiles, everything in its arsenal!" "And we are suffering," he said.
In this situation, he expressed his gratitude for support his country's is receiving, with the sanctions against Russia, material support and calls for the invaders to end their military operations. But he also warned that all of this was not enough and that "more needs to be done", in reference to Ukraine's request for an the no-fly zone.
The consul referred to the exodus of the Ukrainian population and again gave thanks for the support and for a "solidarity never seen before". He explained that the consulate is receiving hundreds of calls from citizens offering whatever they can give: clothes, medicine, humanitarian aid. "Only if we are together can we defeat our enemy. Only together can we survive," he said.