A proposal by Poland to transfer its fleet of MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine with a layover at a U.S. airbase in Germany seems to have caught the Pentagon completely by surprise, causing them to put the brakes on the idea.
The day after the deal was scuttled, a senior Defense Department official on Wednesday said they are continuing to talk to Poland about any potential assistance package to its neighbor.
“We continue to talk to the Ukrainians themselves about their defensive needs. We’re doing the best we can to meet them with stuff we can get our hands on,” the Defense official said. “We’re also working closely with our allies and partners — in and outside the region — to try to address other capabilities that the Ukrainians are asking for.”
Poland’s plan was to ship its MiG-29 jets to the U.S. Air Force’s Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where they would eventually be handed over to Ukraine. In return, the Polish Air Force would receive an equal number of F-16s from the U.S. inventory.
The concern for the Pentagon was the greater geostrategic implication of jet fighters departing from a joint US/NATO airbase in Germany to fly into airspace contested by Russia and Ukraine. Such a plan raises “serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance,” officials said.
“Poland’s proposal shows just some of the complexities this issue presents,” chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement released late Tuesday. “It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantial rationale for it.”
The Pentagon said the skies over Ukraine remain contested and the majority of the country’s fleet of combat aircraft is intact and operational.
“We are working very hard to get the Ukrainians the capabilities that they need and that they are using with great effect. That’s where our focus is on,” the Defense official said. “The Russians have surface-to-air missile umbrellas that virtually cover the whole country. I can’t speak to the Ukrainian air plan, but one has to assume they’re taking that into (account) before they fly manned aircraft.”
The plan to use the Ramstein Air Base as a temporary holding area for Ukraine-bound jet fighters was put on the back burner, but the Defense Department officials said that doesn’t mean another country can’t decide to supply them on their own.
“If another nation wants to consider providing aircraft [to Ukraine], that’s a sovereign decision that they can make and should make on their own in consultation with Ukraine,” the official said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, appearing with visiting British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, echoed the Pentagon line.
“Departing from a U.S. NATO base in Germany to fly into airspace contested with Russia over Ukraine raises some serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance,” said Mr. Blinken, who visited Poland as part of a eastern European trip earlier this week. “… It’s simply not clear to us that there’s a substantive rationale for doing it in the way that was put forward yesterday.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also poured cold water on the Warsaw offer when asked in Berlin if he would allow the transfer to take place at a base located on German soil, the Associated Press reported.
While noting Germany has supplied both humanitarian and military aid to Kyiv, Mr. Scholz expressed deep skepticism about the MiG offer.
“We must consider very carefully what we do in concrete terms, and that most certainly doesn’t include fighter planes,” the chancellor said.
Before the latest offer, even Polish officials were ruling out allowing Kyiv the use of its MiG fighters — at least in a direct exchange.