The US is working with Warsaw on a deal to provide Ukraine with Polish fighter jets as Kyiv ratchets up the pressure on the west to boost its air force capabilities so it can repel Russian attacks.
The deal would involve Ukraine receiving Russian-made warplanes from Poland, which would in turn be given F-16s by the US. It comes amid fears Russia will increase air strikes given the slow progress of parts of its ground campaign.
The White House said it was negotiating with Poland and consulting other Nato allies but that there were “a number of challenging practical questions, including how the planes could actually be transferred from Poland to Ukraine”.
If we lose the skies, there will be much, much more blood on the ground, and that will be the blood of civilians
“We are also working on the capabilities we could provide to backfill Poland if it decided to transfer planes to Ukraine,” a White House spokesperson said.
A Polish official said: “Poland is not in a state of war with Russia, but it is not an impartial country, because it supports Ukraine as the victim of aggression. It considers, however, that all military matters must be a decision of Nato as a whole.”
The deal emerged following a day of intense pressure from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his foreign minister, who both said that if Nato would not institute a no-fly zone over the country then it should provide its air force with fighter jets.
The Financial Times reported earlier on Saturday that Zelensky had made an emotional plea for the US to give Poland and other eastern European allies F-16 fighter jets, enabling those countries to then send Russian-made warplanes to Ukraine.
Ukrainian pilots need Russian-made aircraft because those are the systems they have been trained to fly.
In a call with almost 300 US lawmakers on Saturday morning, Zelensky said Ukraine badly needed more aircraft, particularly after Nato decided against creating a no-fly zone because it would risk a broader conflict with Russia, according to people familiar with the call.
Washington is working to provide more support to Ukraine and this week sent anti-aircraft stinger missiles, the same weapons that the US provided the Mujahedeen to repel the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
The White House said President Joe Biden spoke to Zelensky on Saturday evening and noted that the US was increasing “security, humanitarian, and economic assistance to Ukraine and is working closely with Congress to secure additional funding”.
