Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made sweeping claims about the UK’s preparedness to support Ukraine as it faces invasion from Russia.
The line, however, has been drawn at the introduction of a no-fly zone which would - if introduced - limit Russian air superiority leaving its troops more vulnerable.
The move however has been firmly ruled out over fears it would cause a major escalation to the conflict.
The Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, said that were any NATO fighters to shoot down a Russian jet it would trigger Article 5, which would lead to all 30 member states being forced into the defence of one another.
Speaking to Sky News he said: “The triggering of that Article 5 would lead to a war against Russia across the whole of Europe. That is not a position that members of Nato are prepared to go”.
But what is Article 5, and what would it really mean were it to be triggered?
What is Article 5?
NATO’s Article 5 focuses on the principle of collective defence, that each of its members is duty-bound to come to the aid of any other under attack.
NATO itself says on its website: “The principle of collective defence is at the very heart of NATO’s founding treaty. It remains a unique and enduring principle that binds its members together, committing them to protect each other and setting a spirit of solidarity within the Alliance.”
In other words, an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all NATO members. So, were a single British jet to come under an attack imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, all other 29 member states would regard it as an attack on one of their own.
Article 5 was used for the first time following 9/11, when the United States came under attack from terrorists.
What does it mean if Article 5 is triggered?
The main problem with the triggering of Article 5 is the limitless potential for escalation that it could lead to.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov said that a “Third World War will be nuclear, and devastating", in an undeniably sinister reminder of the stakes of escalation.
Concerns exist about Putin’s capacity to do something rash and after 23 years at the top of the Russian political system may regard himself as a protagonist of Russia, his country’s fate linked to his own.
The UK meanwhile would also be unlikely to be able to compete on the ground with Russia’s substantially larger army.
As of the first of October 2021, the ‘trained strength' of the British army sat at 77,526 personnel alongside 29,688 in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and a further 29,913 in the Royal Air Force.
The UK’s force is shrinking, however, in efforts to ‘modernise’ the military - but this doesn’t bode well for the potential of a ground war with Russia’s army, which has been reported to sit closer to the one million mark.
