The Russian Armed Forces claim to have destroyed almost all combat-ready aircraft of the Ukrainian military, the official representative of the Russian Defence Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, announced. He said the Russian army with high-precision long-range weapons disabled the airfield of the Ukrainian Air Force in Vinnytsia. Now, Poland has agreed to help Ukraine by arming the country with MiG-29 fighter jets to fight against Russia. There's a catch.
Poland is looking to strike a three-way deal with the US for giving its MiG-29 fighter jets to the war-torn country. It wants the US to fill the gap in its fleet with American-made F-16 fighter jets. The White House had earlier said that it would look into the matter and later on Sunday, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said that the US is considering assistance to Poland if it hands over its warplanes to Kyiv.
"We are working with the Poles on this issue and consulting with the rest of our NATO allies," a White House spokesperson told POLITICO. "We are also working on the capabilities we could provide to backfill Poland if it decided to transfer planes to Ukraine."
Transfer of warplanes
Through this deal, Poland, which has been modernising its aircraft fleet since 2006, will be able to phase out the Russian-made planes and switch to the American warplanes. In 2020, it even signed a $4.6 billion deal with the US for 32 F-35s, the first of which will arrive in 2024.
While there hasn't been any opposition from the White House for Poland to transfer its warplanes, it's tougher than it sounds. Russia has warned to attack any convoys carrying weapons entering the war-torn country, which makes the operation of getting the Russian-made MiG-29s into Ukraine difficult.
The Biden administration has released $240 million out of $350 million in military aide to Ukraine and the rest is expected to arrive in the days to come.
