Poland asks Germany for permission to deliver Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine
Poland has submitted an official request to Germany for permission to supply MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, reports the German news agency DPA.
The request refers to the supply of Soviet-made fighter jets from former warehouses in East Germany. The planes were in the old stocks of the GDR. Germany transferred them to Poland in 2002, and a permission from Berlin is required for deliveries to third countries.
At that time, 23 aircraft were sold to Warsaw. Adviser to the President of Poland Jacek Siewiera said at the end of March that about a dozen of these aircraft remain in service with the Polish Air Force.
Siewiera didn’t provide the exact number of MiG-29s that Poland intends to deliver to Ukraine.
The German government said that it intends to make a decision on April 13.
"The German government wants to make a decision this Thursday whether it will give consent to Poland to supply Soviet-made MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine," DPA quotes German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius as saying.
Der Spiegel reported, citing government sources in Berlin, that Germany has already approved Poland's request for delivery of MiG-29 fighters from East Germany's stockpiles to Ukraine.
Der Spiegel does not specify how many aircraft were allowed to be delivered to Ukraine.