Friday 26 / July / 2024
Washington [US]: The United States is in talks with Poland on a deal to provide fighter jets to Ukraine, a White House spokesperson confirmed.
The spokesperson also said that they are figuring out the logistics as to how the aircraft would be transferred from Poland to Ukraine. US is determining what "capabilities we could provide to backfill Poland if it decided to transfer planes to Ukraine," added the spokesperson, according to TV news reports. The spokesperson did not clear what 'backfill' options were under consideration and noted that sending fighter jets into Ukraine is a "sovereign decision for any country to make".
Moreover, Two US lawmakers participated in a Zoom call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said Zelenskyy indicated Poland had signalled it is prepared to send MiG fighter jets but "they are only waiting for you [the US] to allow it."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday praised Warsaw for playing a "vital" role in the Ukraine crisis, by stating that the United States has deployed doubled the number of military personnel in Poland.
In a meeting with the Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, Blinken said expressed the United States' admiration and appreciation for Poland's solidarity and support for Ukraine.
"Poland is doing vital work to respond to this (Ukraine) crisis. It has done a great deal to facilitate security assistance to Ukraine. Since January 30, the US has more than doubled the number of military personnel deployed in Poland to now more than 10,000," Blinken said.
Poland has already received up to 700,000 refugees.
