(Warsaw) Poland said it was ready on Tuesday evening to “hand over without delay and free of charge” all its Mig-29 planes to the disposal of the United States, which seeks to supply fighter jets to Ukraine, an announcement which “surprised” Washington.
Posted at 2:49 p.m.
Updated at 4:21 p.m.
“To my knowledge, they had not consulted us beforehand,” declared the number three in American diplomacy, Victoria Nuland, during a parliamentary hearing. “I think it’s a surprise announcement from the Poles,” she added.
“The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations with the President and the Government, are ready to move all its Mig-29 aircraft to the Ramstein base without delay and free of charge [en Allemagne] and make them available to the United States government,” the Polish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry clarified that this statement is made “following a statement by the United States Secretary of State regarding the handover of aircraft to Ukraine”.
Poland has around 30 of these Soviet-designed aircraft, but according to media reports, only 23 are technically ready to be sent to Ramstein.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki insisted on Tuesday evening, during a press conference in Oslo, on the fact that “Poland is not a party to this war and NATO is not a party to this war”.
“That is why any decision to deliver offensive weapons must be taken by NATO as a whole, on the basis of unanimity. That’s why we’re ready to give our entire fleet of fighter jets to Ramstein, but we’re not ready to do anything on our own, because, like I said, we’re not part to this war,” he continued.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Moldova that the United States was “actively working” on a deal with Poland to send fighter jets to Ukraine to to fight the Russian invasion.
Only a few Eastern European countries, former members of the Warsaw Pact, officially have Soviet Mig-29s in their fleet, whose anti-aircraft capabilities are those that best meet Ukrainian needs to combat Russian fighters.
The Mig-29s, like the Sukhoi-27 (anti-aircraft defense and ground support) and the Sukhoi-25 fighter-bombers, are the only ones that Ukrainian pilots could handle without prior training.
“At the same time, Poland is asking the United States to provide it with second-hand aircraft with the same operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately set the conditions for the acquisition” of these devices, continues the press release from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to American media, Washington would be ready in exchange to provide F-16 fighters to Poland to replace these aircraft. But it is not certain that these F-16s can be provided very quickly.
The Polish government has also invited the other NATO member states – which have Mig-29 ¬ to follow its example.
Ramstein Air Base, located in southwestern Germany, is the largest airbase for US forces in Europe.