BY MICHAEL BARUAH. OUR NORTH AMERICA CORRESPONDENT.
Polish F-16 fighter jets will start patrolling Slovakian airspace, the countries’ defense ministers said Friday at a joint news conference, raising the likelihood of Bratislava sending its existing Soviet-designed warplanes to Ukraine — which has repeatedly asked for such aircraft.
The ministers didn’t say when Warsaw would start the patrols. The announcement comes after Slovakian officials aired the possibility of sending their country’s MiG-29 jets to Ukraine should there be alternative ways of protecting their skies. Poland and Slovakia, both NATO members, are former Soviet-bloc states that operate Soviet-designed weapons.
Poland last month offered to provide its entire fleet of MiG-29s to Ukraine by placing them at a key U.S. military base in Germany, although Washington declined. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby at the time said moving fighters from U.S. bases in Germany to Ukraine could provoke Russia.