By Anthony Marcus, correspondent. Eurasia Business News, September 3, 2024. Article no.1208

The Ukrainian President Zelensky stated on August 27 the need for Polish MiG-29 aircraft for Ukraine because of their good avionics. He discussed this issue with the Polish leadership. Poland is a NATO member country.

The Minister of Defense of Poland said that the country has already transferred all possible weapons to Ukraine. Decisions on the further transfer of MiGs can be adopted only after Poland receives new F-35 aircraft.

The Polish Minister of Defense, Vladyslav Kosiniak-Kamysz, reacted to the statement of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the need for Polish MiGs, saying that he was not surprised that Kyiv was asking for additional help, because this is his role. “As of today, the Polish side has handed over everything it could to Ukraine”, said the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of National Defense of Poland Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.

Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz said Ukraine could expect to eventually receive more MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland but added that the airframes would not be given to Ukraine until after their modern F-35 replacements arrived in Poland. 

Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, when asked by PAP about Zelenskyy’s words about the need for Polish MiGs and the possibility of Poland shooting down Russian missiles and drones, admitted that he “understands President Zelenskyy.” At the same time, he noted that Poland had provided huge support to Ukraine in terms of donations.

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“The Polish government, both ours and the government of our predecessors, has made multibillion-dollar donations of equipment to Ukraine. That’s all we were able to donate,” he stressed. “But the security of the Polish state is always the highest imperative for me, and all the decisions we make on this issue are made through the prism of the security of the Polish state,” he added.

“I know that Ukraine needs many types of weapons, but our partners from Ukraine must also understand that the Polish state must maintain its capabilities. And this is a priority for me as the Minister of Defense,” Kosinyak-Kamysh said.

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Speaking about the likelihood of Poland shooting down Russian missiles and drones over the territory of the western regions of Ukraine, the head of the Ministry of Defense noted that there is great skepticism in NATO countries on this issue. “And no country will make such decisions alone. I don’t see any supporters in NATO for this decision to be made,” the Polish Deputy Prime Minister said.

“I’m not surprised that President Zelensky will address this, because that’s his role. But our role is to make decisions in the interests of the Polish state. And this is what we are adopting today,” said the head of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland.

The head of the Ministry of National Defense was also asked whether Poland is ready to donate MiGs if new aircraft arrive, as Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

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The Polish minister said that possible decisions on the MiG-29 could be made after the Polish Air Force is strengthened with new aircraft – for example, F-35 fighter jets ordered from the United States, the first of which is due to be handed over to the Polish army on Wednesday. However, the first F-35 aircraft are not expected until 2026, earlier plans include, among other things: training of Polish pilots of these machines in the United States, the newspaper points out.

Kosiniak-Kamyš noted that only after receiving the new aircraft will it be possible to dispose of old aircraft, such as the MiG-29, which are currently still in operation, among other things, for missions to protect Polish airspace. “Then we will make a decision,” he added.

“Today we donated everything we could donate to Ukraine,” he stressed.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in July that Polish MiG-29s could be transferred to Ukraine if NATO allies want to replace them with other aircraft.

On July 29, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the allocation of two new packages of military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $1.5 billion and $200 million. On August 9, the US Department of Defense announced the 63rd aid package to Ukraine in the amount of $125 million. This announcement is the Biden Administration’s sixty-third tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.

NATO allies are particularly wary of being pulled directly into the hostilities, which would dramatically raise the risk of a nuclear war. However, as the fighting has progressed, many donor governments have shed their reluctance to give Ukraine more sophisticated assets, such as battle tanks and modern fighter aircraft. 

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© Copyright 2024 – Eurasia Business News. Article No. 1208.