Harris, Heading To Poland, Will Deal With First Major NATO Fight Since Russia Invaded Ukraine
Shelby Talcott
Senior White House Correspondent
March 09, 2022 9:35 AM ET
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President Joe Biden’s administration was caught completely off guard Tuesday after Poland announced their proposal to send every Soviet-era fighter jet they own to Ukraine, with the U.S. dubbed as being responsible for the transfer deal. The confusion – and subsequent rejection of the idea from U.S. officials – coincides with Vice President Kamala Harris’ trip to Poland, where she’ll now likely be tasked with solving the dust-up.
Harris is slated to visit Warsaw, Poland, and Bucharest, Romania, from March 9-11. The trip was originally supposed to “demonstrate the strength and unity of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Alliance and U.S. support for NATO’s eastern flank allies in the face of Russian aggression,” Harris’s deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement.
“It will also highlight our collective efforts to support the people of Ukraine,” Singh said previously, adding that Harris will “advance our close coordination in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”
One day prior to her trip, Poland issued a surprise announcement after claiming for weeks that it was not working on a transfer deal, Politico reported. Ukraine has been pushing to get its hands on MiG-29 fighter jets, but a big concern remains on whether agreeing to the request would escalate Russia-NATO tensions.
“The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy — immediately and free of charge — all their MiG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America,” Poland announced in a press release.
“At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes,” the statement added. “The Polish Government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MIG-29 jets – to act in the same vein.”
Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland called the press release “a surprise move by the Poles,” according to Politico – though officials said days earlier that options were being discussed, CNN reported.
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