Official representatives of both countries announced that Poland and Slovakia will present Soviet-era military aircraft to Kyiv.
Poland and Slovakia have agreed to transfer Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, Slovak Defense Minister Jaro Nad said on Thursday. A day ago, the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, announced that he would donate the entire MiG-29 fleet of his country.
In a Facebook post, Nad said a Polish official contacted him at a meeting of EU defense ministers in Sweden on Wednesday and confirmed that Warsaw had agreed to jointly deliver the planes to Ukraine.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Duda mentioned his country “Ready to deliver these planes.”
However, Duda has made similar statements before. In an interview with Sky News last month, he called on NATO to provide Ukraine with modern aircraft in the future, but said that in the meantime, older MiGs would be sent. Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that a day later, Warsaw “ready” for such transfer, but does so only within “A Coalition with the United States as Leader.”
Nad wrote about it in his Facebook post “it’s time to make a decision” about sending the planes, which means the two countries are still waiting for the green light from the United States. However, Washington has indicated that it is unlikely to allow it.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said his government said Tuesday “ready to deploy” the country’s entire MiG-29 fleet will be sent to the American airbase in Ramstein, Germany, from there to Ukraine. The Pentagon rejected the offer, and that was it “irregular”
The Polish Air Force has 29 MiG-29s in active service, while Slovakia has 12.
Kiev has repeatedly requested Soviet and Western aircraft from NATO supporters. Although the US-led bloc has yet to accept such demands, Britain announced last month that it would train Ukrainian pilots. “Sophisticated fighter jets according to NATO standards”, and the US will assess the suitability of Ukrainian pilots for training on US-made F-16 fighter jets.
Russia has argued that the flow of Western arms to Ukraine will prolong the conflict rather than change the outcome. Delivery of warplanes, in particular, a “red line” which places the West “War against Russia” Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned last week.
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