Poland supplied to switch its fleet of MiG-29 fighter jets to the US in a posh plan to ship the warplanes to Ukraine, however the proposal suffered a setback when the Pentagon declared the scheme untenable.
Below the proposal introduced Tuesday by Warsaw, the Polish air drive would hand its Russian-made MiGs to the US, which might then switch the plane to Ukraine, whose pilots are educated to fly the fighter jets.
However a senior state division official stated Washington had not been consulted on the plan earlier than Warsaw publicly made the provide, and the Pentagon urged it may pull Nato straight right into a conflict with Russia.
“The prospect of fighter jets ‘on the disposal of the . . . US’ departing from a US Nato base in Germany, to fly into airspace that’s contested with Russia over Ukraine, raises severe considerations for all the Nato alliance,” stated John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman.
“It’s merely not clear to us that there’s a substantive rationale for it,” Kirby added. “We are going to proceed to seek the advice of with Poland and our different Nato allies about this situation and the tough logistical challenges it presents, however we don’t imagine Poland’s proposal is a tenable one.”
The US and Nato have been wrestling with the high-stakes problem of arming Ukrainian forces with out crossing a line that could possibly be seen as coming into right into a direct battle with Russia.
Based on a US official, Warsaw initially proposed the thought of a aircraft swap to Washington in an effort to each assist Ukraine and improve Poland’s air drive by changing the MiGs with US-built F-16 fighters. However the unique plan was for Poland to present the MiGs on to Ukraine.
Victoria Nuland, a senior state division official who has been straight concerned in Ukraine coverage, instructed a Senate listening to on Tuesday that she had no data of the plan to make use of the US as an middleman.
“To my data, it wasn’t pre-consulted with us,” Nuland stated.
The thought of sending Polish MiGs to Ukraine had been some extent of debate throughout the Biden administration however was discounted earlier than Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, requested the US to rethink on the weekend.
Based on one particular person aware of the American stance, Washington initially instructed Warsaw that it didn’t assist any plan to ship Polish fighters to Kyiv after some US officers raised considerations that it risked drawing the US right into a battle with Russia.
However the White Home shortly pivoted on Sunday after Zelensky made an emotional plea in a Zoom name with a bipartisan group of roughly 300 members of Congress. Zelensky’s proposal was first reported by the Monetary Occasions.
Regardless of initially expressing robust reservations to any swap, inside hours the White Home instructed the FT that it was in negotiations with Poland on the proposal.
Zelensky has appealed to Nato members who personal outdated Russian-made warplanes to present them to Ukraine, and urged the US to replenish these air forces by offering them with F-16s — a Lockheed Martin fighter that’s the most used fight jet in Nato air forces.
Polish officers had expressed reservations about any switch with out securing the total backing of Nato. However on Tuesday, Warsaw introduced that it was ready to ship its MiGs “instantly and freed from cost” to Ramstein, a US air base in Germany, and put them on the disposal of the US.
“On the identical time, Poland requests the US to supply us with used plane with corresponding operational capabilities,” the Polish overseas ministry stated, including that it was keen to pay for the F-16s. It additionally urged “different Nato Allies — homeowners of MiG-29 jets — to behave in the identical vein”.
A senior Polish official stated that its new proposal was designed to point out that Poland was dedicated to supporting Ukraine, whereas muddying the waters over which Nato members have been behind the switch, significantly if different nations adopted swimsuit.
“There was an unfair recreation in opposition to Poland and accusations that we have been holding up the method of giving the MiGs to Ukraine,” the Polish official stated. “Instantly there have been solutions that sending the planes ought to be a sovereign determination of Poland, relatively than a call of the entire alliance.”
Not many different former Soviet-bloc Nato members have MiG-29s that might be appropriate for Ukrainian pilots, nonetheless. A Bulgarian official stated it doesn’t have sufficient to make an affect, including that Sofia has been instructed by Washington it might not ask for its jets. Romania, Croatia and Slovenia have MiG-21s, which Ukrainian pilots will not be educated on.
Slovakia has MiG-29s, however like Bulgaria they don’t have any different fighters, which means they may not simply take supply of F-16s, that are already within the Polish arsenal.
Extra reporting by Marton Dunai in Budapest. Comply with James Shotter and Demetri Sevastopulo on Twitter