Polish foreign minister rejects Kiev's call for more fighter jets

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has rejected complaints from Ukraine over failing to deliver promised fighter jets for the country's defence against the Russian invasion.

"We have our own defence needs," the liberal-conservative politician told the Polsat News channel on Saturday.

Ukraine must understand, Sikorski said, that Poland, as a "frontline state," must also deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had accused Poland of once again coming up with a reason not to send additional MiG-29 fighter jets to his country.

According to Sikorski, the Polish Cabinet has put forward a proposal for a defence loan for Ukraine, which would allow Kiev to purchase military equipment from Polish arms makers on loan and pay back the money during reconstruction.

According to media reports, such a proposal is unlikely to garner positive feedback from Kiev, however.

Zelensky also recently criticized Poland for declining to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine.

Warsaw argues that such a move would require joint approval from NATO.

Poland, an EU and NATO member state, shares a common border with Ukraine and Moscow's ally Belarus, which also serves as the EU's external border.

The country has been among the most committed political and military supporters of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, taking in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.