There is an agreement with NATO, but Poland has found a new reason not to transfer the MiG-29: Zelenskyy

Ukraine had agreed with NATO to deploy allied aircraft in Poland so that Warsaw could transfer its old MiG-29 fighters to Kyiv. However, this never happened. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a press conference in Zakarpattia.

‘We have good neighbourly relations with Poland. There are various challenges, and we have constantly asked them to shoot down missiles heading towards Poland. We have Stryi, gas storage facilities there, the country depends on this gas supply,’ he said.

Zelenskyy explained that Ukraine asked for help in defending Stryi because it does not have enough air defence systems to fully protect the facility.

‘What do the Poles do? Are they shooting down? No. The Poles said they are ready to shoot down if they are not alone in this decision, if NATO supports them,’ the president said.

He also noted that he had agreed with former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to set up a police mission for Poland with the use of NATO aircraft.

‘These are NATO aircraft. We really wanted to get MiGs from Poland, but they couldn’t give us any because they didn’t have enough of their own. Therefore, we agreed with NATO that they would provide us with a police mission, like our Baltic friends,’ Zelenskyy said.

‘We agreed on this. And what happened after that? Did Poland give us aircraft? No. Did they find another reason? Yes. Did other countries unite around Poland and say, ‘Since we are neighbours, we will shoot down both aircraft and air defence systems’? No. When they decided not to shoot down these missiles with MiGs, we asked them to give us MiGs, they will be stationed somewhere in Western Ukraine and will shoot themdown,’ Zelenskyy concluded.