Ukraine war: US says Poland's offer of MIG-29 fighter jets to be passed to Ukraine 'not tenable'


The plan would help Ukrainians by providing them with more aircraft but also raises the risk of the war expanding beyond Ukraine.

By Alexa Phillips, news reporter

Wednesday 9 March 2022 05:11, UK


The Pentagon has said Poland’s offer give all of its MIG-29 fighter jets to the US so they can be passed to Ukraine is not "tenable".

Spokesman John Kirby said the proposal to deliver the planes to the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany "raises serious concerns for the NATO alliance".

"It is simply not clear to us there is a substantive rationale for it," he said.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEB8VcrYJww
Ex-Ukrainian president calls for fighter jets

The plan would help Ukrainians by providing them with more aircraft but also raises the risk of the war expanding beyond Ukraine.

Mr Kirby said the US is worried about the prospect of warplanes departing from a US and NATO base to fly into airspace contested with Russia.

Russia has said that supporting Ukraine in this way would mean that NATO was now participating in the war, warning of potential retaliation.

"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," Mr Kirby said.

A US official said the Pentagon and State Department were not consulted by Poland before its surprise announcement it was ready to hand over its entire fleet of the jets "immediately and free of charge" and put them "at the disposal of the US government".

"There was no coordination for the jets to ever cross into US custody," they said, speaking anonymously.

Poland won't give planes directly to Ukraine

Poland had suggested it would hand over its Soviet-era fighters and in turn receive American F-16s to make up for their loss.

"The US position was in support of Poland sending the jets directly to Ukraine, not for the US to act as an intermediary," the official added.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his country is "not ready to make any moves on our own" because "we are not party to this war".

"Any decision of delivering offensive weapons has to be taken by the entire NATO on a unanimous basis," he added.

Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a "desperate plea" to US Congress members for further military aid that is not currently being supplied by the West, including planes.

Ukraine's military pilots are not trained to fly US fighter jets and would be far more equipped to handle Soviet-era aircraft.

naptu2:


Poland had suggested it would hand over its Soviet-era fighters and in turn receive American F-16s to make up for their loss.

You see this war heh, it's full of hypocrisy. The narratives people get about the events depends on their source of information.

Ukraine had plans of attacking the Secessionists cos they knew they were planning to declare independent soon. USA, UK, NATO and EU have been supplying weapons to Ukraine to fight that war.

The last military exercise conducted by Ukraine military at the black sea was final preparation for the attack.

Russia got the Intel, expressed his concerns about the implications of attacking the Secessionists as almost half of them are Russian, by birth, citizenship.. EU, NATO, US have not been taking any of the Russia concerns seriously.

When USA was shouting Russia would invade Ukraine, they knew what they were talking about cos Russia would definitely move to the Secessionists area to protect them which is in Ukraine territory.

The Secessionists are not interested in any independence, they have changed their tunes to they want to reunite with their big brother Russia.

The question is would Russia have allowed the Ukraine military to bombard the Secessionists even though they have been on bombardment since 2014.

The mistake Putin is currently making is you do not quench fire by adding more fuel, he should have considered the humanitarian crises his attack would cause, the destructions of lives and property and how the world would think even though most would be fed with one side of the story .

Btw, majority of the foot soldiers of Russia in Ukraine are not even Russians

Reelz:
why is the US reluctant to fully help Ukraine in this war..

anambraamaka:
Why NATO dey fear Russia like this?

naptu2:


Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his country is "not ready to make any moves on our own" because "we are not party to this war".

"Any decision of delivering offensive weapons has to be taken by the entire NATO on a unanimous basis," he added.

Reelz:
why is the US reluctant to fully help Ukraine in this war..