Denmark and its allies are discussing whether to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine, while Germany and the United States do not yet plan to do so, writes The Guardian.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on TV2 that Western countries are discussing sending planes to Ukraine. According to the Minister of Defense of Denmark, his country is open to this idea.
"I do not exclude that at some point there may be a need to consider the contribution of fighter jets," noted Troels Lund Poulsen.
The Danish Air Force has acquired 77 F-16s since the 1970s. According to local media, about 30 of them are working.
In the coming days, Poland will hand over the first 4 of 10 Soviet MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. But Germany and the USA do not yet plan to send planes to Ukrainians.
“So far, everyone has agreed that now is not the time to send in fighter jets. I still have no confirmation from Poland that this happened," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters.
The White House called Polandʼs move a sovereign decision and praised the Poles for actively helping Kyiv. But the Administration of the US President stressed that the decision of the Poles will have nothing to do with President Joe Biden, who has not yet supported the proposal to provide Ukraine with American F-16s.
"At the moment, there is no change in our view on fighter jets. This is our sovereign decision," said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
- On March 16, it became known that Poland and Slovakia agreed to create a coalition of countries to transfer combat aircraft to Ukraine. The countries agreed to transfer to Kyiv MiG-29 fighters, which are in service with the Ukrainian Air Force. Slovakia is preparing to transfer 10 of the 11 such fighters, but it must first be approved by the parliament. Poland is handing over 4 planes in the coming days — the rest are promised to be delivered within the year. In total, the Polish Air Force has 28 MiG-29 fighters.
- Ukraine is asking its allies for Western-made multirole fighter jets, such as the F-15, F-16 and F-18. So far, the partners have agreed only to train Ukrainian pilots, in particular, this was promised by Britain, Poland and three other countries, which are kept secret. Discussions about preparations for the transfer of Western aircraft are ongoing.