4 ms·
> The reluctance of Poland to do this directly is completely understandable, as it borders both Belarus and Russia, the latter having stated that it would consi
by brimble 5y ago
> The reluctance of Poland to do this directly is completely understandable, as it borders both Belarus and Russia, the latter having stated that it would consider this an act of war (which cannot be ignored, even if Russia's official statements seem little more than incoherent ramblings at this point).
The relevant statement I'd read had to do with letting Ukraine operate from air bases in other countries, not with supplying aircraft, which seemed to be a carefully crafted statement to avoid calling aircraft transfers an act of war, since it came out right around the (second) time this started to be talked about. Was there another?
- 323 5y agoNobody yet sold heavy weapon systems to Ukraine, stuff like Patriot or Iron Dome anti aircraft systems. Or tanks/planes.
- brimble 5y agoI think early reluctance had a lot to do with expecting anything advanced or large that was sent to be destroyed, or to be irrelevant by the time it could be brought into use (time to get it there, training time, then time to move it into a useful position). That they think Ukraine will still be able to field aircraft by the time this transfer is done, is itself interesting.
- MomoXenosaga 5y agoTricky situation. One can assume that Russia is going to win this war with brute force. Then they will take whatever Ukrainian weapons they can before it's destroyed. Secondly weapons are useless without trained operators. I imagine Ukrainian military does not have experience operating NATO weaponry.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dantyti 5y agoYou're right, I was under the wrong impression that it was about the transfer of planes.
- xdennis 5y ago> The relevant statement I'd read had to do with letting Ukraine operate from air bases in other countries That's already moot since Romania is letting Ukrainian aircraft come here. 1 Su-27 previously and 9 helicopters today: https://universul.net/update-ukrainian-helicopters-land-in-romania-for-maintenance-work-more-on-the-way/ https://universul.net/update-ukrainian-helicopters-land-in-r...
- brimble 5y ago> Russia on Sunday warned that any country offering its airfields to Ukraine’s air force attacking Russian targets will be considered as having entered the conflict, state news agency TASS reported. From the article you linked. If that's accurate, the warning is very narrowly about letting Ukraine fly combat missions from other countries' airfields. They seem to have staked that out as their "OK, do what you like, but go past this line and we'll be big mad" position.