U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Poland’s Defense Secretary that the U.S. does not support the transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets to the Ukrainian Air Force “at this time,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, either by Poland transferring them to the Ukrainian Air Force from the U.S. fills the Polish fleet or Poland is handing over MiG-29s to the US to be handed over to Ukraine later.
Austin “emphasized that we do not support the transfer of additional Ukrainian Air Force fighters at this time, and therefore also do not wish to see them in our custody,” Kirby said.
The United States and NATO want to help Ukraine defend itself against the invasion of Russian troops into the country, but at the same time not be drawn into an open conflict with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked the West for MiG-29 fighter jets, used during the Cold War and trained to use Ukrainian pilots, to maintain control of the skies in his country while it remains under Russian attack.
Zelenskiy’s other request for help establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine has been rejected by the US and the alliance, which see it as a move that would turn them directly against Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin also warned that he would consider countries imposing a no-fly zone “participants in a military conflict.”
Since the no-fly zone was not discussed, the US has weighed the option of providing support to the Ukrainian military by helping to facilitate the delivery of Polish fighter jets to Ukraine. But it proved to be a complex political issue and a logistical challenge.
Over the weekend, the US said it was in talks with Poland about a potential deal in which Poland would supply Ukraine with the MiG-29 fighters requested by Ukraine, and the US would then supply Poland with American F-16s.
Poland, however, took the US by surprise on Tuesday and offered to deploy all of its MiG-29 fighter jets to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia, but first by sending planes to the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany, which is also a NATO country. .
The US Department of Defense rejected the proposal as untenable and deemed it too risky.
“The prospect of fighter jets in the possession of the government of the United States of America taking off from a US/NATO base in Germany and flying into airspace that is being contested with Russia over Ukraine is of great concern to the entire NATO alliance,” Kirby said in a statement. in his statement on Tuesday.
U.S. officials have described CNN’s problem as twofold: the logistics of getting planes to Ukraine and the political problem of preventing escalation with Russia. US officials described the Polish plan as failing to adequately address both problems.
NATO members have expressed concern that providing fighter jets to Ukraine, even if done bilaterally, could be perceived by Russia as the alliance’s direct involvement in the war, NATO diplomats told CNN.
Poland, a NATO member and Ukraine’s neighbor, is also concerned about the risks of sharing fighter jets with Ukraine as they do not want to become a party to the conflict and escalate the situation along their border, Polish officials told CNN. .
If a Russian attack spreads to one of NATO’s bordering countries, it could trigger Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty, according to which an attack on one member of the alliance is an attack on all members.
If Article 5 is invoked, the US and other NATO members would be required to provide resources to protect another NATO member and could become directly involved in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.
Discussions are ongoing
Before Kirby said the Pentagon was strongly opposed to Poland’s offer on Wednesday afternoon, senior administration officials told CNN that the US was continuing consultations with Poland and other NATO allies about the possibility of providing fighter jets to Ukraine.
US and Polish officials have had “a series of conversations” since the White House was caught off guard by Warsaw’s announcement, a US administration official told CNN, adding that relations between the two countries remain strong despite differences.
US Vice President Kamala Harris is also traveling to Poland this week and is expected to discuss the issue.
US officials also told CNN they do not believe the episode is preventing any agreement from being reached that would allow the planes to reach Ukraine.
However, at the moment, the US has no immediate obvious solutions to facilitate the delivery of aircraft to Ukraine after the rejection of the Polish proposal.
“I think what we see is that the Polish proposal shows that there are some complexities related to the provision of security systems. We need to make sure we’re doing it right,” Secretary of State Anthony said. This Blinken told reporters on Wednesday at the headquarters of the State Department.
Logistics problems
The US has made it clear that sending planes to Ukraine is Poland’s “sovereign decision” but is willing to help solve problems.
In addition to the political quagmire, there are logistical problems with sending fighter jets to Ukraine for the US and NATO allies that have yet to be resolved.
“Secretary Austin, Chairman Milley, and members of our Department of Defense are in touch with Ukrainian colleagues, NATO colleagues, discussing clear logistical problems,” Psaki, a White House press secretary, said Wednesday.
Psaki mentioned some logistical and operational issues: delivery of aircraft to Ukraine without escalation, the potential need to disassemble aircraft and reassemble them, and ensuring the safe movement of aircraft in a war.
She later called it a “major logistical bottleneck”, stating that discussions on the matter were ongoing.
Open questions include how the plane will actually move from Poland to Ukraine and the number of Ukrainian pilots available, US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith Christiane Amanpour of CNN said on Monday.
Initially, the idea was floated that the Ukrainians would travel to Poland to pick up the fighter jets and send them back to Ukraine’s dangerous airspace, which US officials say remains contentious.
Late last month, Ukraine requested MiG-29s from Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria, and Zelensky on Saturday, in a phone call with US lawmakers, pleaded with the US to help bring the fighter jets to his country.
Some countries appeared to be willing to consider the move before Poland offered to send its MiG-19s. As of Wednesday, US officials have not ruled out talks with these three other European countries as they look for a way to get the fighter jets to Ukraine.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Oren Lieberman, Barbara Starr, Kylie Atwood, Ellie Kaufman, Kevin Liptak, Jeremy Diamond, Jennifer Hansler, Betsy Klein, and Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.