US, Poland look at providing Soviet-era jet fighters to Ukraine

The proposal comes after President Zelensky makes impassioned plea to Congress for the jet fighters.

Volodymyr Zelensky is beamed to a demonstration at Venceslas square in Prague. Picture: AFP

The US is exploring a deal in which Poland would send Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine in return for American F-16 jet fighters, US officials said Saturday, in the latest bid to help Ukraine respond to Russia’s invasion.

The deal would require White House approval and congressional action, US officials said.

The disclosure of a possible deal followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s impassioned plea to Capitol Hill for assistance in obtaining more lethal military aid, especially Russian-made jet fighters that Ukrainian pilots can fly. Mr Zelensky also supported a proposal to ban US imports of Russian oil, in a video call Saturday morning with members of Congress.

There were more than 200 House and Senate members on the call, said people who participated. Mr Zelensky spoke for about 25 minutes before taking questions.

Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell asked Mr Zelensky what one thing he needed most, according to two people on the call. The Ukrainian president replied with the need for jet fighters. He also brought up instituting a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but said, through a translator, “if you can’t do that, at least get me planes,” according to a person on the call.

Eastern European allies are in possession of Russian military jets that potentially could be transferred to Ukraine. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said that the US should help make possible the transfer of the aircraft. “We must eliminate every obstacle to providing every measure of support to Ukraine to include finding a way for the United States to compensate our Eastern European partners who wish to donate their Soviet-style aircraft to Ukraine,” he said in a statement.

Another legislator said in an interview that Congress could direct funds in a pending spending bill to replenish the stockpiles of European allies.

Mr Zelensky said that the jets were more important than the Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that the US has greenlighted.

A US defence official said other allied nations are seeking to provide Ukraine with Russian aircraft. The US military would backfill with American aircraft. “We are not standing in the way,” the official said.

It isn’t known how many Soviet-era aircraft Poland has available. The Polish Air Force already has a fleet of at least a few dozen F-16s, based on a sales disclosure.

US officials said there are a number of “challenging practical questions,” including getting the planes to Ukraine. Whether to provide Soviet-era planes, they said, is a “sovereign decision” for Poland and the details of an arrangement would need to be agreed upon with Warsaw.

“We are working with the Poles on this issue and consulting with the rest of our NATO allies,” a White House official said.

Former members of the Soviet bloc inherited weapons, ammunition and other equipment after the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine’s military largely consists of Soviet-era weapons.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, asked about Ukraine’s request for aircraft, said, “We are talking about and working on everything.”

The request, coming as Congress is finalising fiscal 2022 spending legislation that is expected to be the vehicle for new US aid to Ukraine, could complicate those negotiations. With the House aiming to pass that legislation before a Wednesday Democratic retreat and the law funding the government expiring Friday, negotiators

must decide whether to specify that $10 billion in additional assistance include provisions to spur the delivery of planes to Ukraine.

“President Zelensky made a desperate plea for Eastern European countries to provide Russian-made planes to Ukraine,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement after the call. “These planes are very much needed. And I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer.”

One underlying tension is whether arranging the transfer of the jets to Ukraine would amount to a more direct involvement in the conflict. Some legislators say it wouldn’t. The plea for the planes, as well as drones, has prompted legislators from both parties to urge the Biden administration to do more to facilitate the transfer of the Russian jets.

President Biden has said the US military wouldn’t enter Ukraine. And since Russia invaded on February 24, no US aircraft have flown over Ukraine, the Pentagon said.

The Biden administration said it would send as much as $350 million in additional military aid, including “lethal defensive assistance.”

Republican senator Lindsey Graham said that planes “the Ukrainians could fly without additional training are sitting waiting to be delivered, but there’s objections and apparently we’re part of the problem.”

The US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members have resisted entering the conflict directly. Mr Zelensky has pushed for a no-fly zone over his country but Mr Biden and allied leaders have rejected the move as escalatory. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary-general, said Friday the organisation is a defensive alliance that doesn’t seek conflict with Russia.

One Senate aide said that Republican senator Rob Portman plans to send a letter to the Pentagon asking it to ship US jet fighters to Eastern European countries that donate the Russian-made jet fighters to Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky spoke through a translator on the call, using simultaneous translation, so there was little back-and-forth.

At one point, Democrat senator Joe Manchin jumped in and asked about banning Russian oil imports, according to two people. Mr Zelensky agreed the US should stop such purchases.

Mr Manchin, who chairs the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced a bipartisan bill Thursday that would ban domestic imports of Russian crude oil, petroleum and other energy products, in a step aimed at choking a source of revenue for Russian President Vladimir Putin during his invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president was steady and calm and emphatic at times about what he wanted from the US legislators tuned in from airports, homes and cars, according to a person on the call.

“It was very clear that he’d thought through what he needed,” said Democrat congressman Jim Himes, who added that Mr Zelensky looked sharp. “He looked better than I look on a Friday evening of a standard week.”

Additional reporting: Michael R. Gordon, Catherine Lucey and Natalie Andrews

The Wall Street Journal