- Russia’s Defense Ministry has warned neighbouring countries against hosting Ukraine with warplanes
- Ministry spokesman said it ‘could be considered as those countries’ engagement in the military conflict’
- United States is working with Poland to supply MiG-29 fighter jets that can be used by Ukrainian Air Force
- In return, Poland has asked for F-16 fighter jets to be given to the country as backup in exchange for the MiGs
- Polish government wary of angering Russian President Vladimir Putin, keen for it not to be seen as a NATO act
- Ukrainian air force require Russian fighter aircraft because those are the models they have been trained on
- Finer details are still to be worked out including how Ukrainian fighter pilots would obtain the Polish jets
- Ukraine’s president has lashed out at NATO powers for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over his country
- NATO rejected calls, saying a no-fly zone could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia
- President Joe Biden has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and to speed U.S. military, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine
Plans for Poland to send fighter jets to Ukraine have been given the ‘green light’ by the US amid warnings from Russia that countries hosting Kyiv’s military aircraft could end up being involved in an armed conflict.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today that the country was in talks with Poland in order to orchestrate a deal that would allow Polish fighter jets to be flown by pilots from the Ukrainian Air Force in order to combat Russia’s air superiority.
The deal would see Ukraine take Poland’s 28 Russian-made MiG-29 warplanes, which would in turn be replaced by a fresh set of F-16’s by the United States.
Mr Blinken told CBS’s Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan: ‘That gets the green light. In fact, we’re talking with our Polish friends right now about what we might be able to backfill their needs if in fact they choose to provide these fighter jets to the Ukrainians. What can we do?
‘How can we help to make sure that they get something to backfill the planes that they’re handing over to the Ukrainians?’
It comes as Russia‘s Defense Ministry today warned countries, including NATO member Romania, against hosting Kyiv’s military aircraft, saying they could end up being involved in an armed conflict.
Defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a video briefing that some Ukrainian combat planes had redeployed to Romania and other Ukraine neighbours he did not identify.
He warned that if those warplanes attacked the Russian forces from the territory of those nations, it ‘could be considered as those countries’ engagement in the military conflict’.
Mr Konashenkov said: ‘We know for sure that Ukrainian combat aircraft have flown to Romania and other neighbouring countries.
‘The use of the airfield network of these countries for basing Ukrainian military aviation with the subsequent use of force against Russia’s army can be regarded as the involvement of these states in an armed conflict.’
The spokesman also claimed that ‘practically all’ Ukraine’s combat-ready aircraft had been destroyed.
Earlier today US army general Mark Milley visited a training centre in Pabrade, Lithuania, amid the escalating crisis in Ukraine.
Ukraine fears an attack from the air may soon be the go-to choice of tactics by Russia after their ground offensive appears to be making far slower progress than the Kremlin had anticipated.
The White House is now working out the practicalities of carrying out a deal, including the crucial question of how the Ukrainians would physically be able to get their hands on the planes.
‘There are a number of challenging practical questions, including how the planes could actually be transferred from Poland to Ukraine.
‘We are also working on the capabilities we could provide to backfill Poland if it decided to transfer planes to Ukraine,’ a White House spokesperson said to the Financial Times.
Poland, which is a member of NATO, would need to play the situation delicately and not be seen to overtly supporting the war unilaterally.
But the Polish government is concerned Russian President Vladimir Putin would see the Ukrainian’s being given warplanes as a direct escalation or even NATO interference.
‘Poland is not in a state of war with Russia, but it is not an impartial country, because it supports Ukraine as the victim of aggression. It considers, however, that all military matters must be a decision of Nato as a whole,’ a Polish official said.
Polish president Andrzej Duda has previously brushed aside the entire idea noting that supplying the planes would be seen as essentially interfering in the conflict.
But the idea of Poland tacitly allowing Ukraine to borrow its fighter jets was given the thumbs up by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who both argued that if NATO were refusing to set up a no-fly zone over Ukraine, then it could at the very least supply the Ukrainian air force with fighters.