Pentagon rejects Poland's plan to send fighter jets to Ukraine, calls it 'high-risk'

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, for the second consecutive day, the Pentagon has dismissed the proposal by Poland to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine via the United States, claiming that the idea would risk escalating the conflict between Russia and NATO. According to the Pentagon, the Polish plan to send Soviet-era MiG-29 warplanes to Ukraine via a US facility in Germany is "high-risk." 

During a news conference, spokesperson John Kirby stated, “We believe the best way to support Ukrainian defence is by providing them the weapons and the systems that they need most to defeat Russian aggression," Anadolu Agency reported.  

Furthermore, Kirby clarified that the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken with his Polish counterpart Mariusz Baszczak on Wednesday, telling him that the nation does not support the transfer of additional warplanes to the Ukrainian Air Force "at this time" and has “no desire to see them in our custody either."  

The US rejects the proposal of sending additional warplanes to Ukraine

The Ukrainian Air Force presently has many squadrons of fully mission competent aircraft, according to Kirby. He went on to say that they believe that adding extra warplanes to the Ukrainian inventory will have little impact on the Ukrainian Air Force's effectiveness. "Therefore, we believe that the gain from transferring those MiG-29s is low," citing Kirby, Anadolu Agency reported. 

Kirby also highlighted the US intelligence assessment that reveals the fact that the transfer of the additional warplanes to Ukraine "may be mistaken as escalatory", resulting in a strong Russian response that might heighten the chances of a military escalation with NATO. 

While addressing the media, spokesperson Kirby noted that Defense Secretary Austin talked with his Polish counterpart and that the US is looking at other possibilities to give Ukraine more important military requirements, including air defence and anti-armour weaponry systems. Further, the US is in talks with a number of nations concerning surface-to-air missiles, which Kirby claims the Ukrainians are better educated and prepared to use.  

Poland is “ready to deploy - immediately and free of charge- all their MiG-29 jets" at the US' command

In addition to this, earlier, Poland has stated that they are “ready to deploy - immediately and free of charge - all their MiG-29 jets" at the US' command, according to a statement from Poland's foreign ministry. Furthermore, Warsaw wants Washington to deliver "used aircraft" with appropriate operational capability, which Poland is willing to buy. According to media reports, Warsaw has offered to hand over Russian-made MiG jets to the United States for further deployment to Ukraine. A senior US state department source told the Financial Times that the public proposal offered by Warsaw was not discussed with Washington and that adopting the Polish request may draw NATO directly into the conflict. 

Meanwhile, the United Nations statistics further disclosed that nearly 516 civilians have lost their lives and 908 people have been injured in Ukraine since Russia started a war against its neighbour on February 24, with the exact toll expected to be far higher. According to UN Refugee Agency, over 2.1 million people have left Ukraine to neighbouring nations. 

Image: AP