Poland found other reasons not to transfer MiG-29 to Ukraine, despite agreement with NATO - Zelenskyy
Ukraine has agreed with NATO to send NATO aircraft to Poland in exchange for Warsaw's transfer of old MiG-29 fighter jets to Kyiv. However, Poland has found reasons not to do so.
This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference in Zakarpattia, Censor.NET reports citing RBC-Ukraine.
"We have good neighborly relations with Poland. There are various challenges, we have constantly asked them to shoot down missiles heading towards Poland. There we have Stryi, gas storage facilities, the country depends on this gas supply, our lives," he said.
According to the president, Ukraine asked Poland to protect Stryi, as Ukraine does not have the appropriate number of systems to protect the gas storage facility.
"What are the Poles doing? Are they shooting down? No. The Poles said they are ready to shoot down if they are not alone in this decision, if NATO supports them," he said.
The Head of State said that Ukraine had agreed with former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that Poland would receive a police mission.
These are NATO aircrafts. We really wanted to get MiGs from Poland, but they couldn't give us any because they didn't have enough of their own. That's why we agreed with NATO that they would provide us with a police mission, like our Baltic friends," Zelenskyy explained.
"We agreed on this. And what happened after that? Did Poland give us airplanes? No. Was there another reason? Yes. Did other countries unite around Poland and say, "We are neighbors, we will shoot down with airplanes and air defense systems"? No. When they decided not to shoot down these missiles with MiGs, we asked them to give us MiGs, and we will have them somewhere in Western Ukraine and shoot them down," the president added.
Earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that Poland had transferred about 400 tanks to Ukraine and was considering the possibility of transferring MiG-29s.
