By Keith Griffith and James Gordon For Dailymail.com
- United States is working with Poland to supply MiG-29 fighter jets that can be used by Ukrainian Air Force
- In return, Poland has asked for F-16 fighter jets to be given to the country as backup in exchange for the MiGs
- Polish government wary of angering Russian President Vladimir Putin, keen for it not to be seen as a NATO act
- Ukrainian air force require Russian fighter aircraft because those are the models they have been trained on
- Finer details are still to be worked out including how Ukrainian fighter pilots would obtain the Polish jets
- Ukraine’s president has lashed out at NATO powers for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over his country
- NATO rejected calls, saying a no-fly zone could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia
- President Joe Biden has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and to speed U.S. military, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine
The US is working with Poland in order to orchestrate a deal that would allow Polish fighter jets to be flown by pilots from the Ukrainian Air Force in order to combat Russia’s air superiority.
The deal would see Ukraine take Poland’s 28 Russian-made MiG-29 warplanes, which would in turn be replaced by a fresh set of F-16’s by the United States.
The Polish Air Force operates both types of fighter aircraft in its combat operations.
Ukraine fears attack from the air may soon be the go-to choice of tactics by Russia after their ground offensive appears to be making far slower progress than the Kremlin had anticipated.
The White House is now working out the practicalities of carrying out such a deal, including the crucial question of how the Ukrainians would physically be able to get their hands on the planes.
‘There are a number of challenging practical questions, including how the planes could actually be transferred from Poland to Ukraine.
