Ukraine got other things from US, NATO, why not Mig-29 jets: GOP Sen.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman says he does not understand why Ukraine should not receive MiG-29 fighter jets when it has already been supported in other ways by the US and its NATO allies.

His remarks come after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday the United States did not support Poland’s proposal to transfer the aging MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, arguing that such a measure can escalate tensions with Russia.

Austin: US does not support sending MiG fighters to Ukraine

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the United States does not support Poland’s proposal to transfer the aging MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier urged the US to establish "no-fly zones" over Ukraine and requested additional MiG-29 jets for his own country following the Russian military operation there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, warned that it would lead to catastrophic consequences. Putin ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine’s Donbas region on February 24 to “defend people” subjected to "genocide" there against the government forces, stressing that Moscow has “no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory.”

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Portman, when asked if he is worried that Poland giving planes to Ukraine could trigger World War III, said, “I don't know why that would be true.”

He said he does not understand why Moscow would perceive sending fighter jets to Ukraine as a larger escalation in comparison to other ways the US and NATO allies have supported Kiev.

“Putin has said that the sanctions are an act of war. They certainly complained when we provided Stingers directly from the US government, which can knock down an airplane,” Portman said.

“We have given them helicopters. As recently as January, we provided them US military helicopters. And those are directly from the United States. In this case, this would be Poland providing these airplanes, which are Soviet-style planes, old planes, MiG-29s. There are also two other countries, Slovakia and Bulgaria, that have these airplanes,” he added.

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The Ohio Republican said, “I don't understand why this is any worse than, from a Russian point of view, than other things ... that we've already done or that we're talking about.”

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby issued a statement on Tuesday evening describing it as “untenable” Poland’s proposal to transfer the fighter jets to the Ramstein Air Base to then go to Ukraine to be deployed against Russia.

Days earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said plans for Poland to send fighter jets to Ukraine had received “the green light” from the US. He added that the Biden administration would work to backfill Poland’s needs if it send jets to Ukraine.

In his interview, Portman pointed to Blinken’s initial approval of the plan in questioning why the US pulled back from it.

“So I don't understand why we're not doing it. We initially gave it a green light. As you know, last weekend, the secretary of State said it was going to get a green light. And for some reason, now we're blocking it,” he said.

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