EU nation approves fighter jets for Ukraine; ‘on the right side of history’

Poland on Thursday became the first NATO member state to declare that it is sending Ukraine about a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets to counter Russia's superior air power during the ongoing battle waging on Ukraine's eastern front. Soviet-made warplanes will be sent by Warsaw to Ukraine "within the next few days," President Andrzej Duda said at a briefing prompting other EU member states to follow the bid. Polish premier described the number of jets that he plans to send as between 11 and 19. "They are in the last years of their functioning, but they are in good working condition," Duda, who became the first NATO member state leader to send German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, said.

EU member states ready to send jets, despite US denial

In a similar announcement, Slovakia’s government said that it has unanimously approved the supply of Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets and a Kub air defence system to Ukraine. Interim Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger told a press briefing that the delivery will also include spare parts for the hardware and missiles. “Our government is on the right side of history” by providing Ukraine with the warplanes that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been requesting, noted the Slovak interim leader. Heger, who lost a vote of no-confidence in 2022, furthermore iterated that he is committed to supplying all kinds of weapons support that Kyiv needs with unanimous approval from member states.

Ukraine has been requesting the US-made F-16 fighter jets, and while the UK is training the Ukrainian pilots to fly the sophisticated warplanes, the Biden administration in a differing tone has repeatedly turned down Kyiv. In an earlier interview, US President Joe Biden ruled out sending fighter jets to Ukraine, saying that Kyiv's Air Force "does not need" the multirole stealth F-16 fighter jets. Biden noted that his administration is ruling out sending fighter jets "for now", citing discussions held with the Department of Defense [DoD], the Pentagon, and the Department of State. Despite the growing demands from the Ukrainians for warplanes ahead of the much anticipated Russian spring offensive, Biden told ABC in an interview that President Zelenskyy "does not need the F-16 fighter jets."

"No, he doesn't need F-16s now," said Biden when asked whether his administration will send them. Biden's outright denial of sending Ukraine warplanes comes despite a major push from European allies, mainly from Kyiv's neighbour Poland to send the jets to Ukraine's Air Force. It still remains unclear whether the United States has changed its stance about sending warplanes to Kyiv as its European allies have taken a U-turn on the prospect that it denied during the initial days of the conflict.