The White House said on Friday that the decision by Poland and Slovakia to provide Ukraine with Russian-made fighters will not change the calculations of the United States opposing sending American-made planes to Kiev.
“The decision by Poland and Slovakia to supply Ukraine with the MiG-29 will not change our calculations about the F-16,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council.
On Thursday, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced that his country would deliver the first batch of four MiG-29 fighter-bombers to Ukraine, which would be the first delivery of this kind by a NATO member state.
Kiev has asked several times from its Western allies to deliver modern fighter-bombers in the hope of obtaining American F-16 fighters.
Last year, Poland’s neighbor Slovakia announced that it wanted to discuss sending MiG-29s to help replace losses in Ukraine’s existing stocks. However, no final decisions have been made in this regard since then.
On another issue, Kirby said that the United States “does not support calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine now, especially those that are in Moscow’s interest.”
Kirby added that “China’s ceasefire initiative in Ukraine aims to consolidate Russia’s gains on the ground at the expense of Ukrainian sovereignty.”
“We do not support calls for a ceasefire at this time,” Kirby stressed before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow next week.
China did not explicitly condemn or support the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but it provides diplomatic support to Moscow.
On February 24, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Beijing published a 12-point document calling on Moscow and Kiev to hold peace talks.