Poland’s president said on Thursday his country plans to deliver around a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, making it the first NATO member to meet the Ukrainian government’s increasingly pressing demands for fighter jets.
President Andrzej Duda said Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made fighter jets “within the next few days” and the rest would have to be serviced and delivered later. The Polish word he used to describe their number can mean between 11 and 19.
“They are in their last few years of being operational, but they are in good operating condition,” Duda said of the aircraft.
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Duda didn’t say whether other countries would take the same step, although Slovakia has said it will send its end-of-life MiGs to Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller said some other countries with MiGs had also pledged them to Kiev, but he did not name them.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Western supporters to share fighter jets, NATO allies have expressed reluctance.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, right, welcomes Czech Republic President Petr Pavel during their meeting March 16, 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. Duda announced that Poland plans to send about a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine had several dozen MiG-29s, which it inherited when the Soviet Union collapsed, but it’s unclear how many of these remain in service after more than a year of combat.
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The debate over whether to supply non-NATO country Ukraine with fighter jets began over a year ago, but NATO has been wary of escalating the war.
Duda announced this during a joint press conference in Warsaw with visiting Czech President Petr Pavel.
Duda said the Polish Air Force will replace the planes it is giving to Ukraine with South Korean-made FA-50 fighters and American-made F-35s.
Poland also became the first NATO country to hand over German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine last month.
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Poland is an important ally in the Ukraine crisis. It is home to thousands of American troops and is taking in more people fleeing the war in Ukraine than any other nation amid Europe’s biggest refugee crisis in decades.
It has suffered from invasions and occupations by Russia for centuries and, despite being a member of NATO, still fears Russia.
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