Poland Ready to Give MiG-29 Fighter Jets to Ukraine but Only via NATO

Two Polish MiG-29s fly over the air base in Malbork, Poland, on April 29, 2014. Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on March 9 that Poland is prepared to make its MiG-29 fighter jets available to Ukraine, but only via NATO as a whole, and not by Warsaw independently, as the move carries security risks.

Poland’s Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets have the potential for quick deployment in Ukraine as its pilots are trained on this type of aircraft. Yet the move is fraught with risk, as Russia has warned it would consider any country offering the use of its airfields to planes carrying out strikes against Moscow’s forces as a party to the conflict.

Amid speculation about whether the MiGs would enter the fight in Ukraine, Polish authorities now appear to have drawn a clear line—Poland is willing to provide the fighter jets but doesn’t want the risk associated with the move to fall on its shoulders alone.

“Poland is not a side in this war ... and NATO is not a side in this war,” Morawiecki said during a state visit to Vienna, Austria. “Such a serious decision like handing over planes must be unanimous and unequivocally taken by all of the North Atlantic Alliance.”

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks during a press conference at the end of the second day of a European Union leaders meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Oct. 22, 2021. John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

Morawiecki said that talks continue on providing the jets to Ukraine, which is desperate to get its hands on the planes to hobble the Russian offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 9 called for a faster resolution of the uncertainty surrounding the transfer of the MiGs.

Zelensky described the hold-up as one of “logistics” and a “technical issue,” while calling for it to be resolved “immediately.”

“We are at war! This is not ping pong! It’s about human lives! We once again ask you to resolve this quickly. Send us the aircraft,” he said in a video message.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a news briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters

Controversy was stirred on March 8 when the Pentagon pushed back against a proposal by Poland to transfer custody of the MiGs to the United States and deliver them to the U.S./NATO air base in Ramstein, Germany, for further disposition by NATO.

“The prospect of fighter jets ‘at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America’ departing from a U.S./NATO base in Germany to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

“It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it. We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one.”

Kirby added that the decision about whether to transfer the MiGs to Ukraine was up to the Polish government.

A MiG-29 jet fighter operated by the Bulgarian Air Force in Graf Ignatievo, Bulgaria, on Feb. 17, 2022. Hristo Rusev/Getty Images

Earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had given Poland a “green light” to provide the fighter jets to Ukraine, sparking hope among those who want to see them battle against Russian forces, and consternation among those who fear the move would lead to an escalation of hostilities.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on March 8 that the transatlantic defense pact must ensure that the conflict in Ukraine doesn’t spill over into neighboring states.

He warned that an expanded conflict would be more dangerous and destructive than the localized hostilities now roiling Ukraine.

“We need to end this conflict, not expand it,” the NATO chief said in remarks during a March 8 joint press conference alongside Latvian President Egils Levits, in Riga, Latvia.

Russian officials have warned that direct involvement of any NATO country in the conflict in Ukraine would be considered an act of war, effectively drawing the other allies into the conflict.

NATO-allied countries have insisted their forces would remain on the sidelines.

“We have no hostility toward the Russian people, and we have no desire to impugn a great nation and a world power,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a recent op-ed.

“This is not a NATO conflict, and it will not become one. No ally has sent combat troops to Ukraine.”