Medicines for the population of Ukraine after the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be transported by trucks for further distribution in Poland. Othmarsingen, Switzerland, March 2, 2022 MICHAEL BUCHOLZER / AP
The Soviet fighters owned by Poland have never been so coveted by Kyiv, which wants to strengthen its air defenses during the war. If the United States seemed open to the idea of a transfer, that option is now ruled out by most stakeholders.
In the EU, the idea of supplying fighter jets to Ukraine quickly arose after the February 24 Russian invasion. On February 27, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that “the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmitry Kuleba, said that he needed aircraft that Ukrainians could fly. Some member states have such aircraft, and we are going to supply them with other weapons necessary for the war.”
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It so happened that of all the NATO member countries, Poland has the most of these Soviet vehicles: 23 MiG-29s in good condition. If Slovakia and Bulgaria had already made it clear that they were not ready to transfer their military fleet of the 1980s to Ukraine, then for Poland doubts still seemed possible. Moreover, on Sunday, March 6, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal confirmed that the White House is working with Warsaw to satisfy Ukraine’s demands on this issue, providing Poland with F-16s as compensation. Interrogated the same day, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on CBS television about the “green light” from the United States in case the Polish government wishes to transfer its fighters to Ukraine: “We are currently in discussions with our Polish friends to understand how we can provide them if they decide to hand over their fighter jets to the Ukrainians. »
One third of the Polish fleet
These claims were immediately refuted by the Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller during a press conference: “At the moment, no decision has been made on the handover of the aircraft. Moreover, he took care to remind “that not a single plane took off from Polish soil to reach Ukraine to help in the fighting.” Faced with rumors that continued to circulate, it was Polish President Andrzej Duda’s turn to speak at a press briefing on Monday. “MiG-29s are Polish and remain so. In this case, nothing has changed,” he said, adding that “President Zelensky looks after the security of Ukraine, I look after the security of Poland.” MiG-29s and Su-25s make up about a third of the Polish Air Force, recalls former Defense Minister Tomasz Semoniak, who was in power between 2011 and 2015, and when asked by Le Monde: “Poland has only 80 fighters. And the loss of a third of our potential would require an immediate replacement to ensure our safety. »
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