Poland Offers Fighter Jets for Ukraine, But US Rejects Swap-and-Send Idea – By Tara Copp and Marcus Weisgerber (Defense One) / March 8, 2022
Warsaw said it would send its MiG-29s to a German air base, leaving delivery to Ukraine up to the U.S. and NATO.
Poland is ready to hand over its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. But in a twist, Polish officials said they would deliver the aircraft only to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, leaving the decision to send them on to Ukraine up to the United States and NATO alliance.
The announcement surprised U.S. officials, who quickly rejected the idea. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the proposal of sending fighters from a U.S./NATO base “to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance.”
“It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it. We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one,” Kirby said in a statement.
Poland floated the idea on Tuesday in a statement from its ministry of foreign affairs.
