AP Explains: Ukraine's president has made a 'desperate' plea for the U.S. to help Kyiv secure more warplanes to defend against Russia's continuing invasion. It's not yet clear whether they'll be coming. Here's why.
The air force has been far outnumbered by the much more powerful Russian air force, but Ukrainian pilots have continued to fly combat sorties and claim kills in combat despite repeated assertions by the Russian military that it has suppressed Ukraine’s air power and air defense assets.Ukraine’s military pilots aren’t trained to fly U.S.
“We are looking actively now at the question of airplanes that Poland can provide to Ukraine and looking at how we might be able to backfill should Poland decide to supply those planes. I can’t speak to a timeline, but I can just tell you we’re looking at it very, very actively,” Blinken said on Sunday in Moldova.“As far as sending planes, I can only repeat that no decisions have been taken on the subject,” government spokesman Piotr Mueller said.
Russia has warned Ukraine’s neighbors against hosting its warplanes on their territory saying Moscow could consider that as their “engagement in the military conflict.” That could mean an opening of hostilities.Poland also borders Russia, through the Kaliningrad exclave, and has a long border with Russia’s close ally Belarus. Relations between Warsaw and Moscow have been at a low point since a right-wing government took office in Poland in 2015.
There is also an F-16 production backlog, which means the countries that potentially give away their MiGs and Su fighters to Ukraine would need to wait for the backfill for some time.
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