US considers deal to send Polish MiGs to Ukraine
Calls for Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania to give Ukraine their Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters jets are increasing.
During a video call with members of the US Congress on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his country’s acute need for weapons of all kinds, including aircraft.
“If you can’t do that [institute a no-fly zone], at least get me planes”, Zelensky is reported to have said.
An unknown number of Ukrainian aircraft were destroyed on the ground during the initial strikes of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At least five MiG-29s were destroyed during a single strike on an airfield outside Ivano-Frankivsk.
Despite the Russian military’s efforts to eliminate Ukraine’s Air Force during the early hours of the invasion, air superiority has not been established, and Ukrainian jets and drones are still active over the country’s airspace, which has proven to be one of the key factors in Russia’s inability to execute a rapid invasion.
As the Ukrainian Air Force does not currently operate US-built aircraft, like the General Dynamics F-16 that is often exported to US allies, Ukrainian pilots would not be able to undergo the requisite training in US-built jets.
Transferring NATO’s current stock of MiG-29s, which is believed to number around 70, would be the fastest and easiest solution that would fill Ukraine’s immediate and urgent need. Poland, which operate both MiG-29s and F-16s, has mulled the option of donating its Soviet-era fighters, but is hesitant to deplete its own Air Force.
This has prompted Washington to give serious consideration to providing F-16s to Poland in exchange for the latter donating its MiG-29s to Ukraine. In a statement, US Democratic Senator Dick Durban noted, “We must eliminate every obstacle to providing every measure of support to Ukraine to include finding a way for the United States to compensate our Eastern European partners who wish to donate their Soviet-style aircraft to Ukraine.”
The Biden administration has reportedly entered discussions with Poland over such a deal, but the willingness of Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia to enter a similar agreement is unknown. In addition to the MiG-29, Bulgaria operates the Su-25 ground attack aircraft, which is also in Ukraine’s arsenal. After Zelensky’s call on Saturday Republican Senator Rob Portman and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling for such a deal to be reached.