Ukrainian leader grateful for Poland’s MiG-29 proposal

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Ukraine’s president expressed pleasure Wednesday for Poland's proposal to transfer MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine from a NATO base.

"We are grateful to Poland for the alternative -- for its readiness to provide Ukraine with combat aircraft," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message on Telegram.

The Ukrainian leader demanded making the needed decision in reference to the US rejecting Poland's offer to transfer all of its MiG-29 fighter jets to an American airbase in Germany to back Ukraine amid its war with Russia.

"(It) raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance," said the Pentagon.

Zelenskyy said: "Listen: we have war! We don’t have time for all these signals. This is not ping pong. This is about human lives. We ask once again: solve it faster. Don’t shift the responsibility, send us planes.”

Also reiterating his calls for Russian soldiers to retreat, Zelenskyy noted that they still have a chance.

"We will fight until we regain our land and take revenge for our killed people,” he said. “Nothing is waiting for you here. Except for captivity, except for death.”

At least 474 civilians have been killed and 861 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war and more than 2.1 million people have fled to neighboring countries, according to UN estimates.