The Slovak government official said the country was in “intensive talks” with NATO allies about protecting its airspace.
“So we can consider this equipment in relation to Ukraine,” said Edouard Heiger, after a meeting with his Belgian counterpart Alexandre de Croo, which was held in Bratislava.
Slovakia has upgraded Soviet-era MiG-29s located at the Sliac military base in the center of the country.
However, Edward Heger did not specify whether the combat aircraft would be donated or sold to Ukraine, which is facing a Russian invasion.
The Slovak prime minister warned that talks with allies could last “a few weeks” and that a possible deployment of combat aircraft was not yet imminent.
For Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad, the airspace can be defended from a US base on Polish soil.
“There are several possibilities, but it is up to the army to plan for us [forças] Or that of the alliance [Atlântica]”, he had highlighted the Yaroslav club on Sunday.
The head of defense of Slovakia also warned that there would be a problem with “keeping the MiG-29 fighters in the air”, as they are maintained by Russian mechanics.
He noted that “it seems that the Russian side has begun to fail to fulfill its contractual obligations,” expressing its intention to stop the cooperation program with Moscow as soon as possible, in order to keep the MiG-29s on the ground permanently.
But this will be a concern for Slovaks, as this fleet is supposed to be operational until 2024, when 14 F16 combat aircraft are expected, from the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
Slovakia has already sent a Russian S-300 anti-missile system to Ukraine in exchange for the US Patriot anti-aircraft system and will now sell the Slovak Zuzana artillery system to the neighboring country.
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