NOT SO FAST

U.S. Caught ‘Off Guard’ Over Polish Offer of Soviet-Era Jets to Ukraine

Vice President Kamala Harris will discuss the matter when she visits Warsaw today.

Vice President Kamala Harris is tasked with untangling a sticky diplomatic issue with Poland after the U.S. was caught “off guard” at a suggestion Soviet-era MiG fighter jets would be given to Ukraine by way of a U.S. base in Germany. The suggestion was quickly dismissed by the Pentagon, which said it would look too much like a direct confrontation with Russia. Ukraine badly needs the fighter jets that are just across the border, but the issue of how to move them without seeming to fly them from a NATO country into the battlefield has flummoxed NATO countries. “There are a lot of ideas on the table. As you’ve seen from the Pentagon statement, it is our judgment that this one is not a tenable one, but we want and certainly are encouraging all allies to bring ideas forward. And for us to stay in very close coordination across the board,” a senior administration official told CNN. “This is a key priority for us and for all of our NATO allies. And so we expect that we will continue talking about how to achieve this really important objective. A number of people have had a variety of ideas and we think all of them are worth discussing and that’s what we’re going to continue doing.”

Harris will address the issue on her trip to Warsaw, where she will overlap with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.