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• All 30 NATO member states met in Brussels on Friday to discuss the alliance's next steps in Ukraine. Diplomatic efforts failed to end the chaos in the country eight days after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Russian forces.

• It seems unlikely that the situation inside Ukraine will improve anytime soon. A 40-mile long Russian convoy, bound for the capital Kiev, was stationed for several days as Ukrainian fighters occupied key areas, while Russian forces took control of other key strategic areas and as of this morning , occupy the Zaporizhia nuclear power. Plant.

• Despite the grim situation on the ground, NATO is unwilling to engage directly in the conflict, including the creation of a no-fly zone, except to support Ukraine's resistance to an invasion that kills innocent civilians .

• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that a no-fly zone over Ukraine is not an option the alliance is considering. "We have agreed that NATO aircraft should not operate over Ukrainian airspace and NATO forces should not operate on Ukrainian territory," he said.

What is NATO

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a grouping of 30 countries from North America and Europe. According to NATO, its objective "is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means."

• The alliance was created in 1949 in response to the start of the Cold War. Its original goal was to protect the West from the threat posed by the Soviet Union. Since the end of the Cold War, many former Soviet countries have joined NATO, much to Putin's dismay.

What does it mean to be a member of NATO

• Being part of NATO means taking an active part in the daily discussions on security and defense issues that affect the Alliance. This can range from strategic counter-electronic warfare measures to moving forces within NATO's borders to protect other members, as happened during this crisis.

• Members are supposed to spend 2% of national GDP on defense each year, although few members have done so in recent years.

• The best-known aspect of the alliance is article 5 of the treaty, which, if quoted, means that "an attack on one ally is considered an attack on all allies."

• Article 5 has only been invoked once, in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

• However, the coalition can take collective defensive action without invoking Article 5, noting that it did so in light of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

What is a no-fly zone

• A no-fly zone is an area where certain aircraft cannot fly for various reasons. In the context of a conflict like the one in Ukraine, that would probably mean an area where Russian planes cannot fly, to prevent them from launching airstrikes against Ukraine.

• O has imposed no-fly zones on non-member states before, including Bosnia and Libya. However, it is always a controversial move because it means being almost fully involved in a conflict without the full commitment of ground forces.

What would happen if NATO imposed a no-fly zone

• The problem with military no-fly zones is that they must be enforced by military force. If a Russian aircraft enters a NATO no-fly zone, NATO forces will have to take action against that aircraft. These actions could include shooting the plane out of the sky. That would be, in Russia's eyes, an act of war by NATO and would likely escalate the conflict.

Why didn't NATO impose a no-fly zone

• Neither Ukraine nor Russia are members of NATO. Putin clearly sees NATO as a direct threat to his authority and recently criticized its expansion into Russia, using this as a justification for invading Ukraine.

• As a result, NATO is extremely reluctant to become directly involved in Ukraine's conflict with a rival nuclear power. While supporting Ukraine's resistance and acknowledging Putin's actions as an invasion of a sovereign country, the alliance is simply unwilling to do anything that could be construed as a direct act of war against Russia and risks an escalation that could lead to the use of nuclear weapons. . arms.

Why does Russia feel threatened by NATO

• Putin has long believed that Russia made a bad deal after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in what he called "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century."

• He complained that over time NATO had expanded its borders by accepting Eastern European countries that were once part of the Soviet Union, meaning Russia now shares a land border with the world's largest military alliance. , reducing its geopolitical power in what was once the territory of Moscow. sphere of influence.

• As recently as February, he demanded that NATO return to the 1997 borders, before Baltic states such as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, the last two countries bordering Russia, joined the alliance.

Has the no-fly zone been used before

• After the first Gulf War in 1991, the United States and its allies established two no-fly zones in Iraq to prevent attacks on certain ethnic and religious groups. This was done without the support of the United Nations.

• In 1992, during the Balkan conflict, the United Nations passed a resolution banning unauthorized military flights over Bosnian airspace.

• The UN Security Council also approved a no-fly zone in 2011 as part of a military intervention in Libya.

• NATO forces have been deployed in Bosnia and Libya.