With Russia looking to escalate its military offensive in Ukraine, the US has given a “green light” to Nato countries willing to hand over fighter jets to Ukrainian forces. However, the proposal is yet to yield any results, since no country has come forward with a concrete plan to supply fighter jets to Ukraine.
Poland was reportedly willing to send MiG-29s to Ukraine in exchange for US-made F-16s. But the same has been denied by Poland. But Poland is no exception. No other Nato country has offered to hand over fighter jets to Ukraine in order for them to be able to stall the Russian invasion.
Like most other military parameters, Russian forces are far superior compared to their Ukrainian counterparts when it comes to air superiority.
Ukraine has 67 fighter jets and 34 attack helicopters, while Russia has a fleet of 1,500 fighter aircraft and 538 combat helicopters.
The question on everyone’s mind is even if Poland decides to supply more fighter jets to Ukraine, will Polish pilots fly the aircraft to Ukraine or will Ukrainian pilots fly them from airfields in Poland?
Both situations could be viewed by Russia as Poland’s direct involvement in the war.
At a time when US has made clear that it will not send either ground troops or air support to help the Ukrainians, it is difficult to imagine any other country sending resources like fighter jets to Kyiv.
Linda Thomas- Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations said, “President Biden has been very, very clear that American troops will not be put on the ground or in the air to escalate this war and make this an American war against the Russians.
“But we’ve also been very clear that we will support Ukraine in every other way possible. We have provided them over a billion dollars in support over the course of the past few days. Prior to that, we’re providing them training. We’re working with our allies and the frontline countries, the border countries to support their efforts as well.”
Without Nato joining the fight, Kyiv might just run out of time as Russia has begun to accelerate its advance towards Kyiv and central Ukraine.
Earlier, the European Union had said it would send fighter aircraft to Ukraine but it is still not clear which countries have made an offer in this regard. Although, it was speculated that Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia could provide fighter jets to Ukraine since they use the same Soviet-era fighter aircraft, including MiG-29 and Su-25, that are part of the Ukrainian Air Force.
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy has already expressed his helplessness and displeasure over Nato’s hesitation to come forward and help.Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressing a press conference on Feb 26, 2022 | AP
“There was a NATO summit, a weak summit, a confused summit, a summit where it was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe’s freedom to be the number one goal,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week.
Zelenskyy has also been pushing for a ‘no-fly zone’ over Ukraine, which essentially means no Russian aircraft can enter Ukrainian airspace. This request, however, has been rejected by Nato since it could result in direct involvement in combat, which is what the US is trying to avoid.
A ‘no-fly zone’ would mean Russian air assets, including aircraft, helicopters and missiles, will be stopped from entering Ukrainian air space. A situation such as this can only be possible if Nato forces deploy their assets to counter Russian forces.
The United Nations Security Council had implemented a ‘no-fly zone’ during the Bosnian War in 1992 and in the Libyan Civil War in 2011. But in those circumstances, there was fear of retaliation from another country. In the Russia-Ukraine war, such a measure would mean direct confrontation between Russia and Nato forces.
