Pentagon press secretary John F. Kirby came out to clarify that the U.S. does not decide on whether or not Polish MiG-29 Fulcrum can be transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force.
The Pentagon press release reads as follows:
«We are now in contact with the Polish government following the statement issued today. As we have said, the decision about whether to transfer Polish-owned planes to Ukraine is ultimately one for the Polish government. We will continue consulting with our Allies and partners about our ongoing security assistance to Ukraine. In fact, Poland’s proposal shows just some of the complexities this issue presents.»
«The prospect of fighter jets «at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America» departing from a U.S./NATO base in Germany to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance. It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it. 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.»
Apparently, the uproar that started a few days ago with the rumor that Ukraine was going to receive MiG-29 fighter jets from a NATO member, originated from Volodymir Zelenski’s request for assistance to his European peers.
Yesterday, as we published in Aviacionline, Poland took a step forward and made available its entire remaining MiG-29 fleet (between 16 and 20 units) for transfer to the Ukrainian Air Force.
The Polish proposal was not to deliver them directly to Ukraine, but to the US. The plan was first to take them to the Ramstein airbase in Germany, the largest US base in Europe. Then, in exchange obtain used F-16 fighters (other sources speak of F-15s), at a significant discount, to compensate for the loss of Polish fighters.
From there, America would be in charge of making the decision to deliver them to the Ukrainians. However, the question that Poland did not know how to answer persisted: from where would these MiG-29s operate?
There is no airbase in Ukraine that is beyond the range of a Russian air or missile attack. The Fulcrum would not last long on Ukrainian territory. The other option was for them to operate from an airfield under NATO protection, such as Ramstein.
But that was too far a gamble since MiG-29 fighters operating from abroad as an Air Force in exile would mean that the country harboring them would be placed as a belligerent party. In this case, NATO would collide directly with Russia. And this would mean a potential escalation of the war that could easily escape the confines of Ukrainian borders.
So the US has put the ball back in Poland’s court. They are not willing to make that decision.
