March 29. 2024. 6:59

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Ukraine war: Poland’s decision to send warplanes puts pressure on Kyiv’s allies

Poland’s announcement that it will be sending four warplanes to Ukraine in the coming days, making it the first country to do so, puts pressure on the allies to supply Ukraine with fighter jets.

President Andrzej Duda said Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets “within the next few days” and that the rest needed servicing and would be supplied later.

The Polish word he used to describe the total number can mean between 11 and 19.

Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, told Danish TV2 on Thursday that western nations are debating whether to send fighter jets to Ukraine.

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Ukraine war: Poland’s decision to send warplanes puts pressure on Kyiv’s allies


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Germany appeared caught off guard by Mr Duda’s announcement.

German defence minister Boris Pistorius said: “So far, everyone has agreed that it’s not the time to send fighter jets.”

Poland’s decision to give Ukraine the fighter jets was a “sovereign decision”, the White House said, and would not prompt Joe Biden to supply Kyiv with American F-16 aircraft.

Poland was the first Nato nation to provide Ukraine with German-made Leopard 2 tanks.

Russia has committed a wide-range of war crimes in Ukraine including wilful killings, systematic torture and the deportation of children, according to a report from a UN-backed inquiry published on Thursday.

The report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine was released a year to the day after the Russian bombing of a theatre in Ukraine’s south-eastern city of Mariupol which killed hundreds of people.

Its head said the team was following the evidence and that there were “some aspects which may raise questions” about possible genocide. Russia dismissed the report.

The Pentagon on Thursday released a video showing the moments before a Russian fighter crashed into a US Reaper drone after spraying it with jet fuel on Tuesday morning over the Black Sea.

Elsewhere, the White House said on Thursday that talks between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be a “good thing,” but warned Beijing against taking a “one-sided” view of the conflict. – Guardian