LONDON – Following reports yesterday that the Ukrainian Air Force is set to receive fighter jets from Europe, this is now not the case according to reports.
It's official – Europe won't transfer fighter planes to Ukraine. Poland decided not to, and Slovakian defense ministry spokesperson confirms to me just now: “Slovakia will not provide fighter jets to Ukraine."
— Paul McLeary (@paulmcleary) March 1, 2022
According to Paul McLeary of Politico, Poland and Slovakia have confirmed they will not provide fighter jets.
On top of this, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has confirmed it will not be part of the conflict as of yet.
“NATO is not going to be part of the conflict. So NATO is not going to send troops into Ukraine or move planes into Ukrainian airspace.”
Yesterday’s report stated that the Ukrainian Air Force was to receive the following from European countries:
- Bulgaria: 16 MiG-29 aircraft
- Bulgaria: 14 Su-25 aircraft.
- Poland: 28 MiG-29 aircraft.
- Slovakia: 12 MiG-29 aircraft.
The Polish government has said that placing such jets into Ukrainian airspace would risk putting NATO into direct conflict with Russia, which is wanting to be avoided at this point.
That being said, European and NATO countries are still providing non-aviation-based supplies to Ukraine.
This is a developing story.