Nandita Bhose

WARSAW (Reuters), – U.S. vice president Kamala Harris will meet with Polish officials in Warsaw Thursday, amid disagreements over Ukraine’s arming with warplanes.

Tuesday’s surprise offer from Poland for the transfer of its Russian-made MiG 29 fighter jets to an American base in Germany by the United States was rejected. The planes were to be used to support the United States’ air defense system.

Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said any supply of fighter jets to Ukraine must be done jointly https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-only-ready-act-jets-ukraine-within-nato-framework-presidential-adviser-2022-03-09 by NATO countries. But, U.S. officials claimed they were not prepared for the proposal. The Pentagon quickly rejected it.

Volodymyr Zeleskiy, President of Ukraine has been calling for NATO to establish a no-fly area or equip it with fighter planes. Although the United States of America and its allies would love to aid Ukraine, they remain wary about anything that may draw them into direct conflicts with Russia.

Republican lawmakers were critical of the U.S. decision against transferring.

Senator Ben Sasse stated that the president must explain why he has vetoed fighter planes for Ukraine.

“Two days ago, the secretary of state gave a green light to MiG transfers but now the Department of Defense is raising red flags — what’s going on?”

Jen Psaki White House Press Secretary said that U.S. ties to Poland remain strong, and she doubted Harris will discuss it in a significant manner on her trips this week to Poland.

They are NATO’s easternmost member countries and worry about Russian aggression. The border between them and Ukraine is shared by thousands of refugees who are now crossing it.

Harris will discuss with NATO members how to implement economic sanctions and ways they can remain aligned during her visit. Harris will meet with Ukrainian refugees from Poland, and they will discuss security and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.

Poland has accepted https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/around-12-mln-ukrainians-have-fled-poland-since-invasion-border-guards-2022-03-08 more than 1.2 million people escaping Ukraine, while Romania has taken in https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/more-than-291000-ukrainians-fled-romania-since-russian-invasion-2022-03-08 about 291,081 people fleeing the Russian invasion. Over 2 million have fled Ukraine.

Harris will meet Morawiecki, and Polish President Andrzej Sebastian Duda on Thursday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who was in Europe to meet with Ukraine allies this week, will be also present.