Harris, Poland president insist they are 'unified' after public disagreement on fighter jets

[mystery-ak]

Vice President Kamala Harris and Polish President Andrzej Duda insisted Thursday that the United States and Poland are "unified," after the U.S. rejected the country’s proposal to send MiG-29 planes to the Ukrainian military.

During a joint press conference in Warsaw, Poland, just hours after the Pentagon made clear that the U.S. does not support Poland’s proposal for the U.S. and NATO to deliver MiG-29s to the Ukrainian military, Harris and Duda maintained that the relationship between the United States and Poland has "become even stronger" amid Russia's war against Ukraine.

Harris said her visit to Poland is "an expression of the enduring and important relationship between the United States and Poland that again has been long-standing, but in particular on the issue of Ukraine is unified and is clear."


Posted by Brooke Singman
https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-3-10-2022

[mountaineer]

Someone please clarify for me: does the US have some sort of veto power over what a sovereign nation (Poland) does with its property (MiG jets, in this case)? Why? If not, who cares that the US didn't go along with it? Couldn't Poland and Ukraine have worked out some sort of delivery between themselves? This whole thing puzzles me.

[GtHawk]

Poland should be careful, and the Ukraine, Hungary knows all about promises from America.

[Kamaji]

Someone please clarify for me: does the US have some sort of veto power over what a sovereign nation (Poland) does with its property (MiG jets, in this case)? Why? If not, who cares that the US didn't go along with it? Couldn't Poland and Ukraine have worked out some sort of delivery between themselves? This whole thing puzzles me.

I am happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but I believe that what happened is that the Poles got cold feet about the MiGs coming directly from their territory and going to Ukraine, particularly if Ukraine pilots were to travel to Poland to pick them up and fly them back, and also they did not want to be without their own full complement of fighters.  So Poland then asked the U.S. to facilitate the transfer of the MiGs to Ukraine, and to also replace the MiGs with U.S. fighters so that Poland would have its full air force.  It was the middle-man step that Bidet apparently scotched.

[mountaineer]

Perhaps I'm a half-bubble off here, but wth. Man up, Poland. If you want to give Ukraine MiGs, do it. Leave US out of it.

[libertybele]

Someone please clarify for me: does the US have some sort of veto power over what a sovereign nation (Poland) does with its property (MiG jets, in this case)? Why? If not, who cares that the US didn't go along with it? Couldn't Poland and Ukraine have worked out some sort of delivery between themselves? This whole thing puzzles me.

I'm not fully understanding either -- Poland is a NATO nation -- but does that give other NATO nations say over other countries? 

The U.S. needs to keep itss nose clean (though I believe Joe has already made some deals with both Ukraine and Russia).

[DefiantMassRINO]

There's nothing stopping Poland from giving the MiGs to Ukraine, except the Poles' need for quid pro quo to get replacement American fighter jets.

"Influence" is a wonderful thing when the other guy needs something from you.

[libertybele]

There's nothing stopping Poland from giving the MiGs to Ukraine, except the Poles' need for quid pro quo to get replacement American fighter jets.

"Influence" is a wonderful thing is the other guy needs something from you.

Gotcha.