Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said his country is ready to hand over to Ukraine Soviet fighter aircraft, but only if all other NATO members approve of the decision, AP reports.
“Poland is not a participant of the warfare, as well as NATO… Such a serious decision (about handing over the planes. - LB.ua) needs to be made on NATO level unanimously,” he said.
Morawiecki mentioned that there is an ongoing discussion of the issue between the countries of the Alliance.
Yesterday, the Polish government approved the transfer of all of their MiG-29 planes that Ukraine claimed to the U.S. The fighter aircraft was supposed to be transported to the U.S “Rammstein” military base in Germany and handed over to 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 U.S 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 Press Secretary John Kirby.
Due to these differences, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris swiftly left for Warsaw to hold talks with the Polish government.
The leaders of the U.S. Congress reached an agreement to increase aid to Ukraine and European allies to 13.6 bn dollars. Thanks to these funds, Poland will receive guarantees for a loan to buy aircrafts instead of those transferred to Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged partners to stop “playing ping-pong” on the issue of giving Ukraine planes and promptly transfer the aircrafts.