Zelensky: Poland holds back on MiG-29 jets for Ukraine despite NATO agreements
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Poland is not sending MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, despite previous agreements with NATO. Zelensky said, speaking during a meeting with local community leaders in the Zakarpattia region, that Warsaw is searching for reasons not to deliver combat aircraft to Kyiv.
The Ukrainian President emphasized the nation's eagerness to acquire these planes from Poland but stated that Warsaw has been unable to supply them due to its own aviation needs. Zelensky detailed that Ukraine had arranged with NATO for a special mission to protect Poland’s airspace, similar to the Baltic Air Policing missions that have been in place since 2004. "We agreed on this. And what happened after? Did Poland give us the planes? No. Did another reason appear? Yes," Zelensky remarked.
In a development dating back to July, Polish President Donald Tusk had signaled willingness to transfer about 15 aircraft to Ukraine—on the condition that NATO allies would station jets for airspace patrols over Poland until new aircraft arrived to replace them.
By late August, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz indicated Poland’s readiness to hand over its jets to Kyiv after receiving the ordered F-35 fighters from the United States. The minister reiterated Poland’s decisions are made through the lens of national security, underlining that Warsaw has provided Ukraine with everything it could.