Germany approves Poland’s request to send jets to Ukraine

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has approved Poland’s request to transfer five Soviet-designed fighter jets to Ukraine, the German Defense Ministry said Thursday.

The permission was needed because Germany used to own the Soviet-designed MiG 29 planes, which were part of communist East Germany’s military fleet.

“I welcome the fact that we in the federal government have reached this decision together,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement. “This shows you can rely on Germany!”

Poland was an early advocate of sending fighter jets to Ukraine. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Warsaw a week ago, Polish President Andrzej Duda said his country already had provided four MiG-29 jets to Ukraine, with four more in the process of getting handed over and another six being prepared.

During a visit to Mali, Pistorius had confirmed German media reports saying that Germany had received Poland’s request and would reply by the end of the day.