Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is against the delivery of MiG-29 fighter jets from NATO to Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia. At a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday in Berlin, he referred to financial aid, humanitarian support and the delivery of individual weapon systems.
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“And otherwise it is the case that we have to think very carefully about what we are actually doing. And that certainly doesn’t include combat aircraft,” said Scholz.
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared on Tuesday evening that the government was prepared to transfer all MiG-29 combat aircraft to the US Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate immediately and free of charge and to make the machines available to the United States. At the same time, the United States is being asked to provide the country with used aircraft with the appropriate operational capability, it said.
Trudeau warned of an escalation. His country will continue to send equipment and weapons. “We must work side by side with our partners and must be careful not to contribute to the escalation,” he said.
“We want to de-escalate and end the conflict.” The aim is also to support Ukraine in every conceivable way.
US expresses “serious concerns”
The US Department of Defense had described Poland’s proposal to hand over MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine with an intermediate stop at a base in Germany as “unsustainable”. The proposal poses “difficult logistical challenges” and there are “serious concerns” about the geopolitical dimension, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday evening.
At a Senate hearing, a top State Department diplomat, Victoria Nuland, described Poland’s previously apparently uncoordinated offer as a “surprising move.”
Pentagon spokeswoman Kirby said the Pentagon was in contact with Warsaw following the Polish statement. The decision to let Ukraine have Polish fighter jets is ultimately a matter for the Polish government. But the proposal underscores “the complexity of this issue,” Kirby said.
The idea that fighter jets handed over to the US military were flying from a US or NATO base in Germany into contested Ukrainian airspace during the war with Russia raises “serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance,” he said Kirby onward.
“It’s just not clear to us that there’s a valid rationale for doing this.” Kirby added in the unusually clear statement that the US would discuss the issue further with Warsaw and NATO allies, but did not believe the proposal Poland’s “durable”. The United States, Germany and numerous NATO allies are supporting Kyiv with the delivery of weapons and equipment for the Ukrainian military.
Warsaw refuses direct delivery
Warsaw has repeatedly ruled out direct delivery of the planes to the neighboring country – which Russia could interpret as direct intervention in the war. “Decisions on the delivery of offensive weapons must be made unanimously at the level of the entire NATO,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Oslo on Tuesday evening. Poland cannot take independent steps because it is not involved in this war.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed reservations about the considerations on Tuesday. One must ensure that this war does not spread to NATO territory, said Baerbock in “Bild-TV”. Even with weapons deliveries, no steep template should be given for saying “we are taking part in the war,” said the Green politician.
According to reports, Kyiv asked for the planes because the pilots of the Ukrainian Air Force are trained to fly the models initially developed in the former Soviet Union. A possible transfer of the fighter jets has also been discussed with the US government for days. The White House always emphasized that it was a decision by Poland as a sovereign state.
“We have in no way opposed Poland transferring planes to Ukraine,” US President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday.
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However, “a number of challenging practical questions are associated with the project. “Where are you going to take off from? Where will they land? These are all very important questions here,” Psaki emphasized. The “rather complicated logistics” of supporting Poland with other fighter jets after a possible transfer to Ukraine are being examined, she said.
Russia warned on Sunday that it would be considered interference in an armed conflict if states allowed Ukrainian planes to land on their airfields, which then attacked Russian forces.
US Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to visit Poland and Romania this Wednesday to support the “strength and unity” of NATO and US support for the Eastern European partner states in the face of the Russian war of aggression, as the White House said last week would have. (dpa)