National

Vice President Harris is going to Poland after the U.S. rejected fighter jet offer

By NPR Staff

Published March 9, 2022 at 2:19 AM PST

This story was published more than 2 years ago.

Vice President Harris met with NATO allies last month when she was at the Munich Security Conference.

Vice President Harris is heading to Warsaw on Wednesday for a trip meant to show unity with Poland and Romania, two U.S. allies that flank Ukraine.

But the visit comes a day after an unusually public disagreement over a Polish proposal to share its fighter jets with Ukraine — an idea that the Pentagon rejected.

Senior administration officials who briefed reporters ahead of Harris' trip downplayed the dispute, saying that there were "a lot of ideas worth discussing" even though this one was judged "not tenable" by the Pentagon, and noting that talks would continue while Harris was overseas.

Become a KPBS sponsor

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, seen here in a March 3 file photo, pressed the U.S. Congress for help getting fighter jets during a call on the weekend. — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had pressed the U.S. Congress for help getting fighter jets during a call on the weekend.

Poland surprised the U.S. with its proposal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked U.S lawmakers on Saturday for help getting more Russian-made MiG fighter jets to his military — jets that his pilots know to how to fly.

The White House said it would try to work to help Ukraine get them from Poland — replacing the jets with U.S.-made aircraft for Poland — but said it would be hard to transfer planes into Ukraine.

Then on Tuesday, Poland announced it would send its jets to the U.S. air base at Ramstein, Germany. That caught U.S. officials off guard. Later in the day, the Pentagon issued a statement saying flying planes from a U.S./NATO base in Germany into contested airspace wouldn't work.

Become a KPBS sponsor

"It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. "We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland's proposal is a tenable one."

The prospect of fighter jets “at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America” departing from a U.S./NATO base in Germany to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance. (3/4)
— John Kirby (@PentagonPresSec) March 8, 2022

Harris will meet with Polish officials on Thursday

Harris' trip has been in the works for a while. She has been meeting and talking with NATO allies in Eastern Europe even before Russia invaded Ukraine, and plans to discuss "next steps" to respond to Russian aggression, officials told reporters.

On Thursday, she will hold meetings with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki — as well as with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who happens to be visiting Warsaw at the same time.

Officials said Harris will meet Ukrainians who have fled their country, as well as U.S. Embassy staff from Kyiv, who are now based in Poland.

On Friday, Harris will meet with Romania's president in Bucharest

Harris will meet U.S. service members stationed in Poland on Friday before she heads to Bucharest to meet Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

The United States has boosted its troop presence in Poland and Romania to reinforce NATO allies. Harris wants to talk about how the U.S. can provide support for refugees. More than half of the 2 million people who have fled Ukraine are in Poland.