Slovakia ready to hand over fighter jets and air defense systems to Ukraine
MiG-29 (Photo:Міністерство оборони Словаччини)
Minister of Defence of Slovakia Jaro Nad has signed a bilateral state agreement with Ukraine on supply of 13 MiG-29 fighter jets and two SA-6 Kub air defense systems to Ukraine, Martina Kakaščíková, a spokesperson for the Defence Ministry, told the TASR on March 17.
Slovakia will also transfer an air defense control system, spare parts and missiles, Kakaščíková said.
Slovakia has declared that it "stands on the right side of history," the spokesperson said.
"Human life is the most valuable thing, and I believe that Slovakian technology will help to protect more people," she said.
She added that this agreement meets the foreign policy interests of Slovakia and is in line with all legal requirements and Slovakian obligations.
The Slovak government unanimously approved the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine on March 17.
Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on March 16 that Warsaw would hand over the first four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days.
Warsaw currently has about 10 MiGs, which it received in the early 1990s from the German Democratic Republic GDR army. The exact number of jets to be transferred wasn't specified, although the Polish government has already approved the decision.
"In the coming days we will first transfer, if I remember correctly, four fully operational planes to Ukraine," Duda said. While other planes are “currently under maintenance,” he added.
Poland will replace these Soviet-era jets with U.S.-made F-35s and South Korean FA-50 fighters, Duda explained.
The Ukrainian Air Force believes that modernized Soviet MiG-29 fighters will be a serious help to them, but that they are unlikely to change much at the front.
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