Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Wednesday for Western powers to urgently decide on a Polish offer that would see his country supplied with fighter jets.
"When will there be a decision? Look, we're at war!" Zelensky said in a video on his Telegram channel. "We ask you again to decide as soon as possible. Send us planes."
On Tuesday, the United States rejected a plan put forward by Poland to send its fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine via a US air base in Ramstein, Germany.
Poland had suggested that its air force would receive F-16 fighters as replacements.
"We have seen in the media that there are discussions between the American and Polish sides. But we sense that the Polish offer is not supported," said Zelensky.
"We don't have time for the media, for all these signals. This isn't ping-pong. It's human lives," he added.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that the prospect of the jets being flown from a US-NATO base "into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance".
"We do not believe Poland's proposal is a tenable one," Kirby said in a statement.
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