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The US assesses that Poland’s proposal to transfer its fleet of Soviet-designed fighter jets to Ukraine would not result in any “significant effectiveness” for the Ukrainian military against Russia, a US defence official told Congress on Thursday.
“We are trying to provide everything we can that really helps them with air defence and we don’t see significant effectiveness tied to those aeroplanes specifically,” Mara Karlin, the assistant secretary of defence for strategy, told the Senate.
“We’re really focusing in particular on what we see is them needing most: anti-armour and air defence capabilities. Ukraine’s air force does have several squadrons of mission-capable aircraft in this contested airspace but what we are seeing is that they really need greater air defence.”
Ms Karlin also said that the US has not seen Ukraine using its current fleet of fighter jets “to the extent that one might suggest".
Still, Ukraine has specifically requested more fighter jets and the Ukrainian military could integrate the 28 MiG-29s that Poland has offered into its current fleet, given its heavy reliance on Soviet-era weapons systems.
But the Polish fleet has been upgraded several times, which could potentially require Ukrainian pilots to undergo training on how to use the more advanced aircraft.
Poland blindsided Washington with an announcement this week that it would turn over custody of its MiG-29 fleet to the US at a Nato base in Germany.
The surprise announcement, made without consulting Washington, happened right as Vice President Kamala Harris travelled to Warsaw.
The US military is unaccustomed to operating Soviet-designed technology and the Pentagon said that the Polish proposal is “not tenable”.
“At this point, we are consulting very closely with Poland and our other Nato allies on the best way forward,” said Jessica Lewis, the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, while speaking before the Senate alongside Ms Karlin.
And while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that he had given US Nato allies the “green light” to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told the Senate on Tuesday that “there are some mixed views among allies and even within the administration” on transferring the Polish fleet.
Mr Blinken said on Wednesday that the US would have to “work through” the MiG-29 transfer with Poland and Ukraine.
And Ms Karlin on Thursday pushed back against Poland’s expectation that the US should enable any potential transfer rather than providing the aircraft directly to Ukraine itself.
“There are a whole lot of logistics that would have to happen should Poland wish to transfer them,” said Ms Karlin.
“Should they wish to do so, it is up to them, rather than of course then them going through us.”
Still, Republican and Democratic senators alike pushed back against President Joe Biden administration's hesitancy over the MiG-29 issue and told Ms Karlin that they needed more specific information as to why the Pentagon views transferring fighter jets to Ukraine as less effective than land-based air defence systems.
Democrat Jeanne Shaheen criticised “bickering among members” of the Biden administration and called on the Pentagon and State Department to provide Congress with a “better answer” as to its stance on the MiG-29 transfer.
Republican Mitt Romney said that the Biden administration has not provided any “logic” for “the lack of rapidity in making this decision and getting in the mix” while suggesting a classified briefing to receive more answers would be helpful.
Bob Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, implied that he could use his jurisdiction over arms sales as leverage to procure more answers from the Biden administration on the MiG-29 issue — raising the prospect that he could hold up arms sales to other countries over Ukraine.
“There may be a perfectly valid and good reason, I think all of us should know,” said Mr Menendez.
“If there is no perfectly valid and good reason, then we need to know that, too.”
Correction: A quote by Mara Karlin was misattributed to Jessica Lewis in an earlier version of this story. The attribution has been updated to reflect the appropriate speaker.
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Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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