As escalatory as “boots on the ground” and “no fly zones” sound to some, doing this (in a limited fashion) in the western regions and well behind the active frontline might be relatively easy to swallow by the russians (who will scream western imperialism, but will still try to avoid direct conflicts). Some will argue that this would make these countries a direct party to the conflict … I don’t think so, but the rules must be very clear to everyone - if russia decided to attack western targets directly, then yes, it would escalate. It is not without risk, but it sends a strong message and may help demoralise russians and make western Ukraine safer for citizens (and returning refugees), but it may not make it through the russian propaganda machine.
Allowing Ukraine to attack military targets on russian soil with western supplied weapons is likely to have a bigger military impact though, and is well within legal norms.
As escalatory as “boots on the ground” and “no fly zones” sound to some, doing this (in a limited fashion) in the western regions and well behind the active frontline might be relatively easy to swallow by the russians (who will scream western imperialism, but will still try to avoid direct conflicts). Some will argue that this would make these countries a direct party to the conflict … I don’t think so, but the rules must be very clear to everyone - if russia decided to attack western targets directly, then yes, it would escalate. It is not without risk, but it sends a strong message and may help demoralise russians and make western Ukraine safer for citizens (and returning refugees), but it may not make it through the russian propaganda machine.
Allowing Ukraine to attack military targets on russian soil with western supplied weapons is likely to have a bigger military impact though, and is well within legal norms.