Responding To US Request, Poland Gives All MiG-29 Fighter Jets To Ukraine For Free

Polish MiG-29. (Wikimedia Commons/Tim Felce)

JAKARTA - Poland is ready to deploy all MiG-29 fighter jets to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and hand them over to the United States, urging other NATO members possessing the type aircraft to do the same, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

US lawmakers pushed President Joe Biden's administration on Monday to facilitate the transfer of warplanes to Ukraine from Poland as well as other NATO and Eastern European countries, following an appeal on Saturday from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"The authorities of the Republic of Poland are ready to deploy immediately and free of charge all their MiG-29 jets to Ramstein Air Base and place them in the hands of the United States Government," the ministry said.

"At the same time, Poland asks the United States to provide us with used aircraft with suitable operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions for the purchase of the aircraft," he said in a statement.

The Ukrainian military has flown Russian-made planes, making them the best choice for Ukrainian pilots who already know how to operate them, experts say. Meanwhile, fighter pilot training on US-made aircraft can take years and require a different pipeline for maintenance.

In neighboring Slovakia, Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad reiterated the country's general goal is to replace Russian military equipment, including MiG-29 fighter jets, but said the country was not yet ready for such a move.

"At this time, we do not have a MiG replacement, but we are doing everything we can to expedite the process," Minister Nad said in a statement released after he spoke by telephone with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Poland supports Kyiv with defensive weapons, but has said it will not send jets to Ukraine, as it is not a direct party to the conflict between Ukraine, which is not a NATO ally, and Russia.

"Any decision on the delivery of offensive weapons must be taken by all of NATO and unanimously," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Tuesday at a joint news conference with his Norwegian counterpart in Oslo.

"This is why we are ready to give all of our fleet of fighter jets to Ramstein, but we are not ready to go it alone because, as I said, we are not a party to this war," he added.