The decision came following a virtual meeting between US senators and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken told CBS News that the US has given NATO nations the “green light” to equip Ukraine with fighter jets, and that the US will try to replace any jets deployed to Kiev. Following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for US senators to intervene in the ongoing confrontation with Russia, Blinken spoke.
Blinken said “it gets a green light” when asked if NATO members might begin sending planes to Ukraine. The US’ top diplomat then stated that the US was already in talks with Polish officials to “backfill” any aircraft sent to Ukraine, implying that the US would replace every Polish plane sent to Kiev with an American plane.
Supporting the sale of planes to Ukraine falls between aggressive action in Ukraine and solely economic reprisal against Moscow for the United States. President Zelensky urged American senators on Saturday to impose a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine, as the Kiev government has made no secret of its desire for the US to intervene militarily.
The United States and any interested NATO allies would commit to shooting down Russian aircraft, which Moscow has stated it would regard as a war crime.
The US and NATO have consistently maintained that they will not send soldiers to Ukraine and have ruled out a no-fly zone.Delivering fighter jets to the Ukrainians, on the other hand, has been difficult thus far.
Late last month, the European Union promised Ukraine warplanes, but there were two major obstacles to overcome: first, locating jets that Ukrainian pilots could fly, and second, finding countries willing to deliver them from their airports.
In battle, the Ukrainian Air Force employs Soviet-designed MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-24, Su-25, and Su-27 jets, while the Su-25 is used by Bulgaria, and the MiG-29 is used by Poland, Bulgaria, and Slovakia, thus the jets would have to come from these nations.
Poland announced shortly after the EU’s statement that it would not send planes to Ukraine or allow deliveries to be made through its airports. Bulgaria and Slovakia then indicated that they would not participate in any agreement, thereby putting an end to the EU’s intentions to send armaments to the Middle East.
However, according to Blinken’s remark on Sunday, the proposal has been renewed, albeit by the US and Poland rather than the EU. Blinken did not say how soon Polish planes may be flying to Ukraine, but he did say that talks between Washington and Warsaw were “active.”
Edited by: Kiran Maharana
Published by: Vishakha Verma
