Ukraine war: US rejects Poland’s offer to supply fighter planes to Kyiv

The Pentagon has rejected an offer from Poland to give its MiG-29 fighter jets to the US so they can be passed to Ukraine, saying it raises serious concerns for the NATO alliance.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby while rejecting Poland’s offer to supply MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine with Washington’s involvement, questioned the prospect of jets departing from a US/NATO base in Germany to fly into Ukrainian airspace contested with Russia.

Poland Tuesday asked the US to send 20 of its Russian-made fighter jets via its Airbase in Ramside, Germany to Ukraine. Press Secretary John Kirby said the possibility of the fighter jets flying from American Airbase will create serious concerns. Pentagon according to him does not want to provoke a direct fight with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UK parliament that Ukraine will fight “on to the end”. He thanked the leaders of the US and UK for banning Russian oil imports. The EU plans to slash Russian gas imports by two-thirds this year.

New ceasefires are due to come into effect from 0800 CET on Wednesday to allow evacuations from five cities, Russian media say.

Ukrainian authorities say that Russian warplanes have carried new strikes on residential areas in the eastern and central parts of the country. Kyiv was under alert early on Wednesday.

Lens, AFP, AP