US wavers on deal that would send planes to Ukraine over escalation fears

US, Poland in talks to help Ukraine acquire warplanes

“Russia’s Air Force is having their worst day yet in Ukraine,” Rubio tweeted in the midst of the discussion. “Multiple shoot downs and dead and captured pilots.” 

On Friday, Zelensky released a blistering speech slamming NATO for refusing to enact a no-fly zone over Ukraine, claiming the decision gave Russia a “green light” to continue shelling his country.

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

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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“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.”