We previously detailed how pressure is growing on the White House to send F-16s to Ukraine, particularly in the Senate, where bipartisan lawmakers this week wrote a letter to President Biden calling for swift action as a “game changer on the field of battle” in a moment. Ukrainian forces are almost surrounded in Bakhmut.
Among NATO allies, Poland has long been the country that has most asked Washington to approve the jets. Now Warsaw is taking action, no doubt hoping to tilt the momentum of the political debate in Washington toward the provision of the planes. President Andrzej Duda announced his plans for the country on Thursday send a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets.
Image source: EPA-EFE
This will make Poland the first NATO country to comply with Zelensky’s requests for fighter jets since the war began. Since Ukraine already operates the Soviet-made aircraft, they are expected to be in use immediately.
Duda specified that year four initial MiG-29s to be delivered ‘in coming days’ and that the rest would come after going through service and maintenance.
The Associated Press notes that the total to be transferred could be more than a dozen: “The Polish word he used to describe his number can mean between 11 and 19”, according to the report.
“They are in the last few years of operation but they are in good working order,” explained Duda. Warsaw has also said it is ready to be part of an international coalition supplying aircraft; however, the Biden administration has been one of the main voices of reluctance in the face of fears of a direct escalation with Russia. NATO leaders have long stressed the need for a common decision on jet aircraft.
An attempt by Poland in March last year to send MiGs, on the condition that Washington replace its fleet with more advanced US-made aircraft, collapsed after the Biden administration said it was premature, denying that this plan had never been launched. place
But the very important question that lies at the bottom of all this “debate” about the planes in Ukraine is this: what happens when nato supplied planes start shooting russian fighters out of the sky? Some Western leaders are already advocating and expecting precisely this scenario…
Unsurprisingly, warmonger and Maidan copycat leader Lindsey Graham recommends shooting down Russian planes in response to the lost US drone.
When WW3 starts, these guys will be hiding in a bunker while you’re out there, paying the price for their stupidity… pic.twitter.com/AsqvmaoWE6
— Gabe (@GabeZZOZZ) March 15, 2023
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