Kyiv still waiting for MiG-29 fighter jets from Warsaw, Zelensky says
Ukraine is still expecting to receive Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 31.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in July that Warsaw may provide Kyiv with additional Soviet-made fighter jets if it can find a replacement.
Following Zelensky's calls to speed up the transfer, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said, "Poland makes decisions based on its security and has already done everything it can for Ukraine."
"We agreed with NATO that they would provide them (Poland) with a police mission, just like our Baltic friends, who do not have their own planes but have such a mission," Zelensky said.
"We agreed on this, but after that, did Poland give us the planes? No. Was there another reason? Yes," the president said without providing further details.
Zelensky added that Ukraine has "constantly asked" Poland to shoot down Russian missiles flying in its direction, particularly to protect the gas storage facility in the town of Stryi in Ukraine's Lviv Oblast, located nearly 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the Ukrainian-Polish border.
"We do not have the appropriate number of (air defense) systems to protect the gas storage facility. What about the Poles? Are they shooting it down? No. The Poles said we are ready to shoot down if we are not alone in this decision; if NATO supports us."
Russian drones and missiles have previously entered Poland's airspace during attacks on Ukraine. Yet, Polish allies advised the government to exercise restraint when dealing with unidentified airspace violations, according to Tusk.
In early July, Ukraine and Poland signed a bilateral security agreement, which included a commitment by both sides to examine "the feasibility of possible intercepting in Ukraine's airspace missiles and UAVs fired in the direction of the territory of Poland, following necessary procedures agreed by the states and organizations involved."
Then NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in turn, was skeptical about this point of the agreement, saying that it puts the alliance at risk of "becoming part of the conflict."
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski began to insist on Poland's right to shoot down air targets after a Russian drone reportedly crossed the country's border in an attack against Ukraine on Aug. 26.
The minister said that the risk of Polish casualties increases the closer a missile is to its target when intercepted, so it was better to shoot it down at a higher altitude over Ukraine.
Dinara Khalilova
