Poland may transfer F-16 to Kyiv under the guise of spare parts
The transfer of Western combat aircraft to Ukraine is possible in the same way as was the case with the MiG-29 fighters - in agreement with NATO countries.
This was stated by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At the same time, Warsaw supplied MiG-29 combat aircraft to Kyiv under the guise of spare parts back in the spring of last year, and this became known only in January 2023.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the country's Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczako gave a joint press conference after a visit to the 18th Mechanized Division of the Polish Army in Siedlce. Journalists asked them whether measures would be taken against F-16 multi-role fighters and long-range weapons, following the example of the Polish government's pressure campaign to transfer tanks to Kyiv.
“We are coordinating with our NATO partners all actions to strengthen Ukraine’s defense forces, including the delivery of Patriot systems to Ukraine, as well as the organization of a powerful tank group in the form of Leopard and other modern tanks. All this is not only pressure on our part, but also agreements with the United States,” Morawiecki noted.
“Just as it was a few months ago, in the context of MiGs, any other aircraft will be provided and, accordingly, transferred in agreement with NATO countries. We will act in full coordination,” the head of the Polish government emphasized.
It is worth noting that on January 25, the Polish publication Dziennik Gazeta Prawna wrote: “Back in the spring of last year, Poland – after a big dispute about whether and how to transfer aircraft – provided the Ukrainians with “a certain number” of MiG-29s. I put it, let's call it conditionally, in a combined way. After all, the fuselage or wings are also spare parts, sources in the Polish government told us.”
At the same time, officially the Polish authorities at that time constantly stated that deliveries of the MiG-29 to Kyiv were possible “only in agreement with NATO.”
Most likely, such approval was nevertheless obtained - although from a formal point of view it should have been given by Russia, as the country that produces the MiG-29 fighters. But even if Warsaw agreed to transfer the MiGs to Kyiv on its own, in the case of the American F-16s this is impossible, because their transfer, even under the guise of spare parts, requires the consent of the United States.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, in Poland they hinted that Turkey would also supply tanks for Kyiv.
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