WASHINGTON, USA
The United States rejected a surprise offer by NATO ally Poland on Tuesday to transfer its Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets to a U.S. base in Germany as a way to replenish Ukraine's air force in its defense against invading Russian forces.
The United States has sought
to speed weapons deliveries to Ukraine. But the prospect of flying combat
aircraft from NATO territory into the war zone "raises serious concerns
for the entire NATO alliance," the Pentagon said.
NATO has said it does not want
direct conflict with Russia, a fellow nuclear-armed power, and President Joe
Biden has ruled out sending U.S. troops into Ukraine to fight, something the
Pentagon has said would apply to troops on the ground or in the air, flying
missions.
"It is simply not clear
to us that there is a substantive rationale for it," Pentagon spokesman
John Kirby said of Poland's proposal.
"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."
Poland's foreign ministry
announced on Tuesday that it was ready to deploy its MiG-29 jets to Ramstein
Air Base in Germany and put them at the disposal of the United States. It urged
other members of the alliance that had other such aircraft to do the same.
The U.S. State Department's
No. 3 diplomat said the Polish proposal caught the United States by surprise.
"To my knowledge, it
wasn't pre-consulted with us that they planned to give these planes to
us," State Department Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs
Victoria Nuland told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
"So I think that actually
was a surprise move by the Poles," she said.
The impasse raises questions
about the viability of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plea for
European countries to provide Russian-made planes, an issue he underscored
during a video call Saturday with U.S. lawmakers.
U.S. lawmakers are eager to
speed military aid to Ukraine and are pushing the Biden administration to
facilitate the aircraft transfer.
Bt Poland's announcement could
also reflect its own sensitivities.
Poland is supporting Ukraine
with defensive weapons, but has said it would not send jets as it is not a
direct party to the conflict between Ukraine - which is not a NATO ally - and
Russia.
Russia's defense ministry
warned this week that countries offering air fields to Ukraine for attacks on
Russia may be considered as having entered the conflict.
Nuland said the main issue was
to assess what Poland's immediate needs would be given it is adjacent to the
conflict.
"Poland - they benefit
from full air security from the NATO alliance. ... The main issue is to
evaluate what Poland's immediate needs are in the context of being a neighbor
of this conflict," she said.
Separately, the U.S. military
announced it would reposition two Patriot missile batteries to Poland to
proactively "counter any potential threat to U.S. and Allied forces and
NATO territory."
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