A group of 20 prominent US lawmakers on Tuesday requested President Joe Biden to reach out to India, Brazil, Egypt and the UAE to hire pilots for airlifting humanitarian aid to Ukraine as Russia considers these countries non-hostile.

The US has a moral responsibility to save lives where possible in Ukraine, a PTI report from Washington cited the lawmakers stating in a letter to Biden.

The lawmakers including Democratic Congressman Lou Correa and Republican Congresswoman Young Kim have pointed out in their letter that previous agreements between Russia and Ukraine to guarantee humanitarian corridors for delivering aid  have proved to be unreliable and inconsistent as Russian shelling continues to destroy roads and endanger transportation routes.

The lawmakers strongly urged Biden to consider a humanitarian airlift of urgently needed non-military supplies organised and supported by the US.

This proposal does carry risks that planes could be shot down entering Ukrainian airspace. Therefore, we urge your administration to immediately reach out to nations viewed as non-threatening to recruit pilots for these flights, including Brazil, India, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, they said.

Flights flown from countries viewed as non-hostile to Russia into Ukraine for humanitarian missions would motivate Russian forces to take strict measures to avoid targeting them, the lawmakers said in the letter.

The lawmakers have also requested President Biden to step up efforts at the United Nations for an expanded humanitarian airlift into Ukraine.

Also read: British authorities seize Russian billionaire’s Superyacht docked at Gibraltar