Germany has approved Poland’s request to transfer five Soviet-designed fighter jets to Ukraine, the country's Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
Permission from Germany was needed because it 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,” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said. “This shows you can rely on Germany.”
Nato member 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 had already had provided four MiG-29 jets to Ukraine, and 10 more were in various stages of being readied for handover.
Germany inherited 24 MiG-29 jets from East Germany during reunification in 1990. At the time, the aircraft were seen as among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.
In 2004, Berlin passed 22 of them to Poland. Of the remaining two jets, one was destroyed in a crash and one is on show at a museum.
Poland needs Berlin's consent to send its remaining jets to a third country.
Ukraine, which hopes to launch a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months, wants to secure fighter jets to defend against air strikes.
Western countries have so far been reluctant to send advanced fighter jets such as F-16s to Kyiv, but some countries have stepped in to send old MiG-29 jets that Ukraine already uses.
Slovakia, too, has pledged MiG-29s to Ukraine. It delivered four jets in late March and has promised a total of 13.
Ukraine’s air force is familiar with MiG-29s and is able to use the planes right away.
Mr Zelenskyy said on Thursday in his nightly address: “We are very much looking forward to the delivery of weapons promised by our partners. We are bringing the victory as close as possible.”
He has lobbied western supporters for months to provide fighter jets, anti-aircraft defence systems and other equipment and ammunition.
