Poland says it will send fighter jets to Ukraine in 'coming days'
CBC
Poland's president said Thursday that his country plans to give Ukraine around a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, which would make it the first NATO member to fulfil the Ukrainian government's increasingly urgent requests for warplanes.
President Andrzej Duda said Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes "within the next few days" and that the rest needed servicing and would be supplied later. The Polish word he used to describe the total number can mean between 11 and 19.
One of Ukraine's staunchest supporters, Warsaw has taken a leading role in persuading sometimes hesitant allies to provide Kyiv with heavy weaponry. It has said that any transfer of jets would be as part of a coalition.
"Firstly, literally within the next few days, we will hand over, as far as I remember, four aircraft to Ukraine in full working order," Duda told a news conference.
"The rest are being prepared, serviced."
On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that deliveries could be made in four to six weeks.
Germany's government appeared to have been caught off guard by Duda's announcement.
"So far, everyone has agreed that it's not the time to send fighter jets," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters. "I don't have any confirmation from Poland yet that this has happened."
Poland's ambassador to Canada told Power and Politics host David Cochrane that Poland is hoping other NATO countries will decide to follow Poland's lead and send jets.
"We definitely hope that this will be — and is — an element of persuasion," said Witold Dzielski. "It's ether we sit back and observe as Ukrainians are dying and Ukraine is being destroyed … or we simply provide a little bit of additional help."
The White House called Poland's move a sovereign decision and lauded the Poles for continuing to "punch above their weight" in assisting Kyiv. But the U.S. administration stressed that Poland's efforts would have no bearing on President Joe Biden, who has resisted calls to provide U.S. F-16s to Ukraine.
"There's no change in our view with respect to fighter aircraft at this time," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. "That is our sovereign decision. That is where we are, other nations can speak to their own" decisions.
NATO allies in the former communist east such as Poland and Slovakia have been particularly vocal supporters of Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Slovakia has also been considering whether to send MiG-29s to Ukraine but has yet to reach a decision.
China’s latest blueprint for driving growth in its economy was largely written before the U.S. and Israel instigated the most far-reaching war in the Middle East in decades.
U.S. President Donald Trump's firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday overshadowed the announcement of his plans to nominate Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin as her successor.
The truck carrying Nepali prime ministerial candidate Balendra Shah was swarmed by cheering supporters in the capital, Kathmandu, on Saturday, unable to inch forward as the former rapper, wearing sunglasses and a sleek black suit, danced on top of the roof.
Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday and warned residents of more than 80 villages to evacuate as the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group said it was ready for an "open war" with Israel in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump has given Americans a short list of his objectives in attacking Iran, but when it comes to the justification for launching the war and how the conflict is expected to play out, he and his team are sending mixed messages.
Omid Golabkesh dragged his suitcase down a long hallway marking the exit of the Kapikoy border crossing in eastern Turkey. He had nearly reached the end of an exhausting journey that included a 12-hour drive to the checkpoint from his home in Tehran.