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Poland, among the many first to vow tanks to Ukraine, is now hesitating to ship fighter jets to its neighbor over fears that it could deplete its personal air power’s already small fleet of fight plane.
President Andrzej Duda instructed BBC sending F-16 plane can be a “very critical determination” that was “not straightforward to take,” even after assembly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week throughout his marathon tour by way of Europe, by which he known as for added air help.
“I attraction to you and the world with the straightforward, and but most essential phrases — fight plane for Ukraine, wings for freedom,” Zelensky instructed the UK Parliament in London.
However Duda stated Poland has fewer than 50 of the plane within the Polish air power, which has difficult the choice to ship F-16s to Ukraine.
“We have now not sufficient … and we'd want many extra of them,” Duda stated, including that the plane even have a “very critical want for upkeep” so it's “not sufficient simply to ship a number of planes.”
The troublesome determination got here to gentle because the White Home introduced President Biden is scheduled to journey to Poland on Feb. 20 to mark the primary anniversary of the Russian invasion and meet with Duda and different allies to Ukraine’s east.
“He needs to speak in regards to the significance of the worldwide neighborhood’s resolve and unity in supporting Ukraine for now occurring a yr,” John Kirby, the communications coordinator on the Nationwide Safety Council, instructed reporters.
The US has but to decide to sending F-16s to Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken didn't rule it out when talking to reporters final week in Washington, regardless of earlier feedback from Biden that the US won't ship the jets.
“[The US] will proceed to make judgments about what we expect Ukraine wants and what it may be handiest utilizing,” Blinken stated.
Different Western allies to Ukraine have additionally been sluggish to decide to sending jets.
British Protection Minister Ben Wallace instructed BBC that it could take years for Ukrainian pilots to learn to fly Eurofighter Storm jets, which Zelensky requested for final week, though London has agreed to start out coaching Ukrainian forces.
“This isn't a easy case of towing an plane to the border,” Wallace stated, including that the planes would additionally require help groups.
“And not using a pit crew, a Components One automobile mainly can’t begin and it definitely can’t final quite a lot of laps,” Wallace stated. “Once you begin doing high-end, refined weapons like fighter jets, there’s a pit crew that comes together with it, and we have now to ask questions on that as nicely.”
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