Poland ready to send ALL its MIG-29 planes to US air base in German so they can be given to Ukraine

The Pentagon has poured cold water on Poland’s offer to hand all its MiG-29 fighter jets to the US, apparently as part of an arrangement to deliver the warplanes to Ukraine’s armed forces where they are desperately needed to fight off invading Russian forces.

The idea has been floating around for more than a week after Ukraine pleaded for more aircraft but the plan has been dogged by questions about how to deliver the planes to Ukrainian territory without dragging NATO into the conflict. 

But Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said on Tuesday night the deal was unworkable and would cause serious concerns for the ‘entire NATO alliance’.

In a statement he said: ‘We are now in contact with the Polish government following the statement issued today. As we have said, the decision about whether to transfer Polish-owned planes to Ukraine is ultimately one for the Polish government. 

‘We will continue consulting with our Allies and partners about our ongoing security assistance to Ukraine, because, in fact, Poland’s proposal shows just some of the complexities this issue presents. 

The prospect of fighter jets ‘at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America’ departing from a U.S./NATO base in Germany to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance’, he added.

‘It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it. We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one.’

Tuesday’s announcement was seen as a Polish effort to force the US and NATO to go further in backing the Ukrainian fight amid mounting concerns over whether it would be seen as an escalation by Vladimir Putin.

There were suggestions NATO electronics would need to be removed if adopted by the Ukrainian Air Force. Russia could have responded if Ukrainian pilots flew them in from a foreign airfield. If American or Polish pilots dropped them in, it could be interpreted as NATO forces operating inside Ukraine. 

‘The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the president and the government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the government of the United States of America,’ said the Polish foreign ministry. 

Poland is believed to have 28 MiG-29s – a Soviet-era fighter flown by the Ukrainian air force – although not all are airworthy. 

‘At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities,’ it said in their statement released earlier on Tuesday.

US officials were considering a proposal to send F-16s to Poland to ‘backfill’ its air force, replacing the MiGs, but have also suggested caution is in order. The Polish announcement appeared to take them unawares.

Victoria Nuland, State Department undersecretary, was asked about the decision when she appeared before a Senate committee to discuss Ukraine. 

‘I was in a meeting where I ought to have about that before I came so I think that actually was a surprise move by the Poles,’ she said. Sources familiar with the issue said the problem was how to deliver the planes to Ukraine.

Russia has made clear that it will consider any use by Ukraine of neighboring country’s territory as a ‘casus belli,’ or justification for attack. That means Ukrainian pilots taking off from Poland or Germany in the MiGs would cross a Russian red line. Asking Polish pilots to fly them in would also be viewed by Russia as NATO entering the conflict.

The move came with Kremlin officials ‘privately denouncing’ Putin’s ‘clusterf**k’ invasion as US officials warned that the isolated Russian despot could lash out in anger at Ukraine’s fierce resistance by using small nuclear weapons on some of its cities.

Russian journalist Farida Rustamova, who was well-connected in government circles before fleeing the country as the Kremlin launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent, has claimed that officials in Moscow never believed that Putin would go to war.

They are now allegedly making ‘apocalyptic’ forecasts about the weeks and months ahead as fighting grinds on and punitive sanctions bite.

‘There were some logistical questions – important ones – that were still under discussion about where those planes would take off from and land,’ said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki when she was asked about the deal on Tuesday.  

A day earlier, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby played down progress on any moves to supply planes.

‘I would just say again, we’re very early on in a discussion here about a possibility. It’s not even a done deal at this point,’ he said. 

And hopes that the MiGs would offer an immediate breakthrough were further scotched by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki who said that the delivery of offensive weapons would have to be taken by all of NATO. 

‘This is why we are ready to give all of our fleet of jet fighters to Ramstein, but we are not ready to make any moves on our own because, as I said, we are not party to this war,’ he said during a joint news conference with his Norwegian counterpart in Oslo.  

It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a ‘desperate plea for aircraft to fight Russian invaders during a video call on Saturday with U.S. legislators, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. 

‘These planes are very much needed. And I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer,’ he said in a statement. 

The Polish moves comes amid warnings by US intelligence chiefs that an angry and frustrated Putin could double down on his invasion despite setbacks. 

Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier told Congress an estimated 2,000-4,000 Russian soldiers had been killed so far.

Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence, said Putin would not be deterred by the lack of progress being made by his forces and the level of Ukrainian resistance. 

‘We assess Putin feels aggrieved the west does not give him proper deference and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose,’ she told the House intelligence committee.

CIA director Bill Burns said he predicted ‘an ugly next few weeks’ as Putin escalated the war ‘with scant regard for civilian casualties.’ 

Meanwhile the US and allies continue to deliver military aid to Ukraine. It is arriving on flights to neighboring countries with as many as 17 planes a day unloading weapons and other equipment at one undisclosed location.   

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley visited the airfield to inspect the historic effort, CNN reported.  

Defense officials have said while Russia continues to fire long-range artillery at Ukrainian cities and make some territorial gains in its south, it has not yet attacked supply transfers.   

This includes providing 17,000 anti-tank missiles and an additional 2,000 anti-aircraft missiles – at a time when video on the ground has showed Russian trucks and armored vehicles stopped in their tracks, while Ukrainian forces report downing helicopters and other aircraft. 

The US says it has committed one billion dollars in the past year to shoring up Ukraine’s defenses and that most of the recently announced $350 million in aid has already arrived.

But the skies remain contested, according to a senior defense official who briefed reporters.  

Earlier in the day, President Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin that the Russian leader would never be able to declare victory in Ukraine. 

In a White House speech, he promised to hunt down oligarchs’ assets, praised Ukrainian resistance and condemned the Russian leader for failing to allow ceasefires for humanitarian relief.

‘Putin seems determined to continue on his murderous path no matter the cost,’ he said.  

But as he tightened the economic noose on Moscow by banning imports of Russian oil and gas, Biden said Putin had miscalculated. 

‘He has already turned two million Ukrainians into refugees,’ he said. 

‘Russia may continue to grind out its advance at a horrible price, but this much is already clear: Ukraine will never be a victory for Putin.

‘Putin may be able to take a city, but he’ll never be able to hold the country. 

‘And if we do not respond to Putin’s assault on global peace and stability today, the cost of freedom, and to the American people, will be even greater tomorrow.’ 

Russia’s main column of armor has been stalled outside Kyiv for days amid reports of poor morale, lack of supplies and technical problems. 

Captured soldiers have complained of a lack of food, fuel, and overall battle plan.

Although Russian forces have made gains elsewhere, it means Putin has failed in what US officials said was his plan to seize the capital within two days.

They say he miscalculated he strength of Ukrainian opposition and over-estimated the success of his efforts to protect his economy from sanctions.

Biden said: ‘We are enforcing the most significant package of economic sanctions in history, and it’s causing significant damage to Russia’s economy.’

And he promised not to cease efforts to make life difficult for the oligarchs around Putin. 

‘The US Department of Justice has assembled a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs and we’re joining with our European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments or private jets and all their ill begotten games to make sure that they share in the pain of Putin’s war 

‘Some of them are … I think I’ve read one was over 400 feet long. I mean, this is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Kyiv claimed today that 12,000 Russian troops have now died fighting in Ukraine, while 300 tanks have been destroyed along with more than 1,000 armoured vehicles, 48 planes, 80 helicopters and three boats. Moscow has acknowledged taking losses but has not given a recent update. Ukraine’s losses are unknown.  

Strikes on civilian areas also continued Tuesday morning, with the city of Sumy – in the east – struck by bombs which the local mayor said killed 21 people including two children and left others wounded. Ukraine’s parliament published a photo of a bloodied infant they said was hurt in the attack.

Russia again offered to open up ‘humanitarian corridors’ today to allow civilians to flee bombarded cities – but the move was swiftly dismissed by Kyiv, with President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of ‘cynicism’, saying its troops have laid mines across the routes and blown up buses intended to be used as transports.

‘There was an agreement on humanitarian corridors. Did that work? Russian tanks worked in its place, Russian Grads (multiple rocket launchers), Russian mines,’ Zelensky said in a video posted on Telegram. ‘They ensure that a small corridor to the occupied territory is open for a few dozen people. Not so much towards Russia as towards the propagandists, directly towards the television cameras.’

At least one of the corridors – out of Sumy – was operating today despite the fatal Russian strikes early in the morning. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister announced this evening that more than 5,000 civilians were evacuated from the northern Ukrainian city under a temporary ceasefire that mostly held.

Regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky said around 1,700 of the evacuees were foreign students studying at universities in Sumy, adding the ceasefire was broken only once by a shooting near a checkpoint.

But Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the route out of Mariupol, which has been without water or electricity for the best part of a week, was shelled.

Mariupol is one of the Ukrainian cities worst hit since the invasion began, with Russian forces bringing widespread destruction to residential and administrative centres.

And each time Russia has agreed to open ‘humanitarian corridors’ allowing citizens to flee the city, its forces have broken their ceasefire agreement and continued shelling in what appear to have been targeted attacks on innocent civilians. 

Zelensky said people stuck in the blockaded urban centre are beginning to suffer from a lack of supplies as the city runs dangerously low on food, water and medicine.

Ukrainian territorial defence forces have been able to deliver vital supplies to some residents, but many more remain isolated and unable to access lifesaving rations.

In Bucha, to the northwest of Kyiv, the mayor said the city is under such heavy shelling that medics cannot get into the streets to retrieve the bodies of the dead – which are now being ‘pulled apart’ by stray dogs. ‘It’s a nightmare,’ he added.

The United Nations said the number of refugees who have fled Ukraine has already reached 2 million – the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II. One million were children, UNICEF spokesman James Elder tweeted, calling it ‘a dark historical first.’ Most others were women. 

In Zhyotymyr, west of Kyiv, a fire at an oil depot was extinguished in the early hours of the morning while in Mykolaiv, in the south, several fires in residential areas had broke out due to Russian attacks – with four civilians killed and five others rescued from the rubble and taken to hospital

In Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, Russian shelling set nine floors and 27 apartment units of a residential building on fire – a blaze that took rescuers more than four hours to extinguish. At least four people were killed.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, speaking to the BBC today, said Russian forces are ‘getting more desperate’ and ‘we are seeing the Russians just double down on brutality’ as the attack stalls.