The U.S. government is looking for ways to replenish Poland’s arsenal should the country agree to provide some of its Soviet-era combat jets to Ukraine, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday made an impassioned plea to Capitol Hill for assistance in obtaining more lethal military aid, especially Russian-made jet fighters that Ukrainian pilots can fly.
“We are looking actively now at the question of airplanes that Poland may provide to Ukraine and looking at how we might be able to backfill should Poland choose to supply those planes,” Mr. Blinken said in Moldova, during a stop through Europe to reassure allies there about U.S. support in the wake of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Mr. Blinken said the U.S. is working with Mr. Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials to get an “up-to-the-minute assessment of their needs.”
The U.S. and partners will then assess what can be provided, he said. “I can’t speak to a timeline, but I can just tell you that we’re looking at it very, very actively,” he told reporters.
On Sunday, Poland’s prime minister’s office dismissed reports of a potential arrangement for the country to hand over combat planes to Ukraine. “Poland won’t send its fighter jets to #Ukraine as well as allow to use its airports,” the chancellery of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted. “We significantly help in many other areas.”
Poland flies Soviet-made MiG-29 combat jets, along with U.S. Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 fighter jets, as well as other aircraft types.