Warsaw made the surprise offer on Tuesday amid repeated appeals from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for more warplanes to replenish his country’s air force as it defends against invading Russian forces.
The Polish scheme proposed that the Russian made MiG-29 fighter jets be delivered to a US base in Ramstein, Germany, and then be deployed to Ukraine.
But Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the prospect of the jets flying from a US-NATO base “into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance”.
The US military said Tuesday that it is “repositioning” two Patriot missile defense batteries to Poland "to confront any potential threats" to allies and NATO territory amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
ReplyDelete"At the direction of the Secretary of Defense and at the invitation of our Polish allies, General Wolters, Commander of US European Command, has directed US Army Europe and Africa to reposition two Patriot Batteries to Poland," United States European Command (EUCOM) spokesman Capt. Adam Miller said in a statement.