Pentagon refused; "That would raise serious concerns for NATO in general"
The United States has rejected an offer from NATO ally Poland to transfer its Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets to a US base in Germany.
Wednesday, 09.03.2022.
08:36
Pentagon refused; "That would raise serious concerns for NATO in general"
It is about providing fighter jets to the Ukrainian air force in defense against the Russian invasion.Washington is trying to speed up the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, but the possibility of fighter jets from the territory of the Alliance entering the war zone "raises serious concerns for the whole of NATO," the Pentagon said, Reuters reports.
NATO has said it does not want a direct conflict with Russia, another nuclear power, while the U.S. President Joseph Biden has ruled out sending U.S. troops to Ukraine.
"We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies on this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it poses, but we do not believe Poland's proposal is acceptable," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said of the Warsaw proposal.
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday that it is ready to deploy its MiG-29 planes to Rammstein Air Base in Germany and make them available to the United States, and called on other members of the Alliance who have such planes to do the same. According to American diplomats, the Polish proposal surprised the United States.
"As far as I know, there were no previous consultations with us regarding the plans to give us these planes. So I think it was actually a surprising move by the Poles", said Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland in her address to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
This development raises questions about the sustainability of the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for European countries to provide Russian-made planes to Kyiv, which he especially pointed out during a video call on Saturday with American lawmakers, according to Reuters.
Komentari 0