Warsaw offers to transfer MiG-29s to the US
The Polish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Polish authorities are ready to immediately and free of charge transfer all of its MiG-29 fighters to Germany at Ramstein Air Base and transfer them to the United States.
The text of the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic: “The Polish authorities, after consultation with the President and the Government of the Republic, are ready to immediately and free of charge transfer all their MiG-29 aircraft to the base in Ramstein and transfer them to the Government of the United States.”
Meanwhile, Poland is asking the United States to supply it with second-hand aircraft with similar operational capabilities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic said that Poland is ready to immediately agree to the terms of purchase of these machines.
The ministry added that “the Polish government also appeals to other NATO countries that possess MiG-29s to take similar measures.”
US media reported last Sunday that Poland may transfer “Soviet planes” to Ukraine in exchange for receiving American F-16 fighters from the United States. According to sources, such a move would be in response to Kyiv’s call to close the airspace over Ukraine. The United States supported the possibility of transferring Soviet aircraft from Poland to Ukraine. Despite this, Poland denied reports of a decision to transfer combat aircraft to Ukraine.
The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized NATO for refusing to close the skies over Ukraine. Last Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that there should be no NATO military aircraft in the skies of Ukraine, and no soldiers from the alliance on its territory. He also added that NATO does not seek to go to war with Russia and is responsible for ensuring that the conflict does not spread beyond Ukraine’s borders, because such a development of events would be more destructive and dangerous.
MiG-29 combat aircraft have been in service with the Polish Army since 1989 and are located at the 22nd Tactical Air Base in Malbork and at the 23rd base in Minsk-Mazowiecki. The first aircraft were purchased in the USSR, the following were received from the Czech Republic and Germany.
