Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk is the underdog going into Saturday's long-awaited unifying title fight with Tyson Fury in Riyadh
sports1 hour ago
Any supply of fighter jets to Ukraine must be done through NATO, top Polish officials said on Wednesday, after Washington rejected Poland’s offer to fly all its MIG-29 jets to a US airbase with a view to them being supplied to Kyiv.
Ukraine has pleaded with Western nations to provide it with fighter jets to counter a Russian invasion that has forced more than 2 million refugees to flee the country, and US lawmakers have responded by pushing President Joe Biden’s administration to facilitate the transfer of aircraft.
On Tuesday, Poland said it was ready to deploy all its MIG-29 jets to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and put them at the disposal of the United States, urging other NATO members to do the same. The Pentagon later dismissed the offer as not “tenable”.
“The USA does not want these planes to come to Ukraine from American bases,” Jakub Kumoch, the Polish president’s foreign affairs advisor, told public broadcaster TVP Info. “Poland is ready to act, but only within the framework of the alliance, within the framework of NATO.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also repeatedly asked the West to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but the US and its NATO allies have rebuffed those calls fearing a direct confrontation with Moscow.
Russia’s defence ministry has warned that countries offering airfields to Ukraine for attacks on Russia may be considered as having entered the conflict.
ALSO READ:
Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski told public radio station Polskie Radio 1 that Poland had to prioritise its security when considering the supply of jets to Ukraine.
“It cannot be that Poland has - as the only NATO country - to take the risk, and the other countries would not have to compensate or share it with us in any way,” he said.
The MIG-29 is a fighter jet that was developed in the Soviet Union and as Ukraine’s military already flies Russian-made aircraft it is the best choice for Ukrainian pilots who already know how to operate them, experts say. Combat pilot training on U.S.-made aircraft can take years and requires a different pipeline for maintenance.
Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk is the underdog going into Saturday's long-awaited unifying title fight with Tyson Fury in Riyadh
sports1 hour ago
The Spaniard admits his team could be affected by the nerves of going for a historic fourth straight league title on the final day of the competition
football2 hours ago
The deportees were among hundreds of employees, Filipino and foreign, rounded up by an anti-crime government task force in a raid on March 14
world2 hours ago
Certain 'vulnerabilities' could allow attackers to steal data, execute malicious codes, authority says
tech2 hours ago
SAF can reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to using conventional jet fuel
aviation2 hours ago
Pant was named in India's T20 World Cup squad after his comeback following a near-fatal car accident in December 2022
cricket2 hours ago
The organisation has established a fact-finding panel to determine the responsibility for the attack
mena2 hours ago
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the bright flash of the X-ray flare — it was the strongest since 2005, rated on the scale for these flares as X8.7
world2 hours ago