The Polish government announced on Tuesday the delivery of its MIG-29 fighters to the United States for shipment to Ukraine, as part of a plan to provide aircraft to the Ukrainians. The European country will receive US F-16 fighter jets in return.

The MiG-29 will be transferred to the Rammstein airbase, located in Germany, where Washington will have the planes.

“The authorities of the Republic of Poland, following consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 aircraft at the Rammstein Air Base and to make them available to the Government of the United States of America,” says the statement issued by the Polish government.

“At the same time, Poland asks the United States to provide us with used aircraft with the corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions for the purchase of the aircraft,” the note adds.

“The Polish government also asks other NATO allies – owners of MiG-29 aircraft – to act in the same direction”, says the statement.

As Ukraine seeks to fend off the Russian military, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the US and its allies to impose an exclusion zone over his country’s airspace or send in more military hardware, including fighter jets.

NATO has ruled out enforcing a no-fly zone, arguing the risk of it triggering a wider war with Russia is too high. However, the United States Secretary, Antony Blinken, gave NATO countries a “green light” to send planes to Ukraine last Sunday, following reports from the Pentagon.

“We are now actively dealing with the issue of aircraft that Poland could provide to Ukraine, and we will see how we can compensate if Poland decides to supply such aircraft,” Blinken added, referring to the MiG-29 and Su-29 warplanes. 25 from Soviet times that are still part of the Polish fleet and with which Ukrainian pilots are familiar.

180 degree turn

The Polish government’s change of heart comes a day after Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denied Blinken about the alleged exchange of fighters that both countries were negotiating with a view to providing Ukraine with the fighter-bombers.

Likewise, the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, ruled out last Tuesday the possibility of sending planes to Ukraine because it would pose a risk of war between NATO and Russia.

“We are not going to send any aircraft to Ukraine because that would mean military interference in the Ukrainian conflict. We will not participate in this conflict. NATO is not a party to this conflict. We are supporting Ukraine with humanitarian assistance, but there will be no Polish aircraft in Ukrainian airspaceDuda said at a NATO news conference.