US Ambassador: NATO prepared to stop fighting in Ukraine

Our goal now is to stop the war. We do not want to extend this conflict beyond Ukraine, and so now, NATO signal collectively is that NATO is not prepared to move forward with a no-fly zone, “Smith said in an interview for CNN.

Smith, however, said NATO members were taking steps to provide lethal support to Ukraine and assess their real-time security needs”.

Smith also said the Alliance is taking steps to protect its members.

“We will protect every inch of NATO territory. NATO is prepared to do this and is already taking steps to reinforce its eastern arm”, she said.

The ambassador said American officials are discussing with the Polish government the potential for Poland to send Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter aircraft in support of Ukrainians.

This is a sovereign decision Poland must make. The US has noted that it is willing to sit down and talk about some of the challenges of this. There are many open questions about the number of Ukrainian pilots available, how these planes would actually move from Poland to Ukraine. All this is working now,” said the American diplomat.

When asked if the Russians have dominance in the skies, Smith said Moscow has no air advantage in Ukraine and that it is the bad news for President Putin”.

“They have not taken Kiev as they planned to do in the first days of this conflict. Zelensky is still president of Ukraine and what we've seen is some of these motorcades, 40km columns that all of them have kept under surveillance, in essence, has gone nowhere”, she said.

This tells us a lot about the Russian Army's ability and challenges, especially the logistical challenges the Russians are facing. ”

The “is quite surprising in fact, their inability to provide their forces with simple things like food and fuel,” added Smith.