Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has dismissed complaints from Ukraine over the failure to deliver promised fighter jets for the country’s defense against the Russian invasion.
“We have our own defense needs,” the liberal-conservative politician told the Polsat News channel on Saturday.
Ukraine must understand, Sikorski said, that Poland, as a “frontline state,” must also deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Poland of once again creating a reason not to send additional MiG-29 fighter jets to his country.
According to Sikorski, the Polish cabinet has proposed a defense loan for Ukraine, which would allow Kiev to buy military equipment on loan from Polish weapons manufacturers and repay the money during reconstruction.
However, according to media reports, such a proposal is unlikely to generate positive feedback from Kiev.
Zelensky also recently criticized Poland for refusing to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine.
Warsaw argues that such a move would require joint approval from NATO.
Poland, an EU and NATO member state, shares a common border with Ukraine and Moscow’s ally Belarus, which also serves as the EU’s external border.
The country has been among Ukraine’s most committed political and military supporters since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, which took in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
