The AP news agency reported that US Vice President Kamala Harris is travelling to Warsaw to resolve a misunderstanding following the Polish government's initiative to hand over its fighters to the US government.
Yesterday, the Polish government approved the transfer of all its MiG-29 aircraft claimed by Ukraine to the United States. They planned to transfer the fighters to the US military base Ramstein in Germany and Ukraine.
Instead, the United States has said it does not consider Poland's offer viable. "The prospect of fighter jets at the disposal of the US government leaving the US-NATO base in Germany and flying to Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, is a matter of concern to the entire Alliance," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
According to the AP, it was a rare moment of disharmony in the Allies' joint efforts to help Ukraine without getting involved in the broader war with Russia.
"The situation with the fighters is confusing, and Harris will have to smooth things over," said Daniel Fried, a former US ambassador to Poland and an adviser to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. "There are many things that need to be discussed with Poles, and it is worth doing during a personal conversation."
Biden's administration official told the AP that the issue of aircraft is a priority for the White House. However, he questioned the logic of transferring aircraft to a NATO base in Germany only to move them back to Eastern Europe.
The US Congress leaders reached an agreement to increase aid to Ukraine and European allies to 13.6bn dollars. Thanks to these funds, Poland will receive guarantees for a loan to buy aircraft instead of those it could transfer to Ukraine.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the partners to stop "ping-pong" in the issue of providing aircraft to Ukraine and finally hand over aircraft to Ukraine.