Poland has expressed its willingness to put its MiG-29s at the disposal of the United States "immediately and free of charge" and transfer them to the Ramstein base in Germany.
"The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the president and the government, are ready to transfer all their MiG-29s to the Ramstein base and put them at the disposal of the United States government," the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Later, the Pentagon announced the rejection of the Polish proposal to provide MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine via Washington.
US officials, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, have ruled out the possibility that any NATO country would supply aircraft to embattled Ukraine. But Blinken confirmed Sunday during his visit to Moldova that the issue is under discussion.
"I can't talk about a timetable, but I can say that we are looking at it very actively," he told reporters.
He added that the United States was in "very active discussions with Ukrainian officials to get an updated assessment of their needs."
This came the day after a meeting between Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the Ukrainian-Polish border, during which the latter urged the United States to provide the fighters.
"If we lose the atmosphere, much more blood will be shed on the ground," he said after meeting his American counterpart.
While the bulk of the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force remains unaffected since the start of the war on February 24, Russia and Ukraine have suffered heavy losses and neither of them has been able to completely control the country's airspace.
The Source
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