US, Poland in talks to help Ukraine acquire warplanes

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The United States is considering a deal with Poland to send U.S. warplanes to Warsaw to replace any Soviet-era fighter jets the NATO country sends to Ukraine. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – during a Saturday Zoom call with more than 280 U.S. lawmakers – said the country needs fighter jets more than the anti-aircraft missiles the U.S. had agreed to, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Under the proposal, the Ukrainians would receive Russian-made MiGs that Poland inherited after the Cold War ended. 

But the U.S. has not signed off on the deal yet over concerns it would be seen as an escalation, a source told Fox News.  

While U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., claimed in a video posted to social media after the call that the U.S. was blocking NATO countries from sending planes, a U.S. official told Fox News that’s not true. 

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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seen in a Zoom call with U.S. senators on Saturday, March 5, 2022.  (Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.)

"If Poland wants to send its warplanes to Ukraine, it can. The U.S. is not blocking them from doing so," the official told Fox News.

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Zelenskyy "made a desperate plea for Eastern European countries to provide Russian-made planes to Ukraine." Schumer said the planes were "very much needed. And I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer." 

Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets are seen April 17, 2008. (Reuters)

Zelenskyy had asked for a no-fly zone over Ukraine and sharply criticized NATO for nixing the request. President Biden and many allies believe a no-fly zone could escalate to another world war. 

An instructor discusses urban combat as Ukrainian civilians undergo basic military training at a volunteer center in a state educational institution, before an expected Russian assault on March 5, 2022, in Odessa, Ukraine.  (Getty Images)

Zelenskyy said if a no-fly zone wasn’t possible at the very least Ukraine needed planes. 

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"It was very clear that he’d thought through what he needed," said U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., who added that Mr. Zelenskyy looked sharp. 

"He looked better than I look on a Friday evening of a standard week," Himes joked, the Journal reported. 

Fox News' Marisa Schultz, Kelly Laco and Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.