US, Poland working on sending jets to Ukraine
Kyiv floated proposal for neighbour to offer Russian fighters, to be swapped with F-16s
The US is working with Poland and consulting other Nato allies on possibly having those countries supply warplanes to Ukraine for use against Russian forces, a White House official said.
The idea, though rejected by several eastern European members of the alliance last week, was floated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a video discussion with a large group of US lawmakers on Saturday.
Several said they supported an aircraft transfer, which could involve Russianmade planes on which Ukrainian pilots were trained.
President Joe Biden’s administration is considering finding replacements for any fighters Poland might send from its fleet to Ukraine, the official said.
The decision was Poland’s to make, the source said, adding that there were logistical challenges, including how to transfer aircraft from Poland to Ukraine.
“It’s no secret that the highest demand that we have is in fighting jets, attack aircraft and air defence systems,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Polish-Ukrainian border on Saturday.
The discussion involved the possibility of sending the countries, including Poland and Slovakia, F-16 fighters to replace what they gave Ukraine, a source said.
But the F-16 process would be time-consuming and involve awarding a contract, as well as building planes specific to the countries and providing training.
With almost 300 members of the Senate and House on the video call, Zelensky won pledges of support for more weaponry while facing reluctance on his appeal for Nato powers to enforce an exclusion zone for Russia’s air force.
Nato and the US say that declaring a no-fly zone would risk getting into a war with Russia.
By contrast, Senate Republican leader Chuck Schumer said he supported the warplanes plan.
Zelensky “made a desperate plea for Eastern European countries to provide Russian-made planes to Ukraine”, Schumer said in a statement.
“These planes are very much needed. And I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer.”
Zelensky addressed US lawmakers as they considered Biden’s request for an extra US$10 billion in funding to respond to the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian leader asked for the US to stop importing Russian oil and gas and urged lawmakers to press companies such as Visa and Mastercard to stop all business in Russia. Hours later, the two companies said they were moving to suspend operations involving Russia.