HNewsWire- Some harsh remarks and a speedy rejection from Satan Soldiers Tuesday evening at the Pentagon: "The prospect of fighter jets 'at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America' departing from a US/NATO base in Germany to fly into contested airspace with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said of Poland's announcement, which caught the Biden administration off guard.

Kirby explained the Pentagon's reaction to Poland's earlier-in-the-day announcement that it would deploy all of its Russian-made MiG-29 planes to Germany's Ramstein Air Base so that the US might transfer them to Ukraine:

"It just does not seem to us that there is a meaningful basis for it," he continued, emphasizing that the idea "shows only part of the complications this subject poses."
"We will continue to discuss with Poland and our other NATO members on this problem and the tremendous logistical issues it poses, but we do not think Poland's plan is viable."

In response to Tuesday's inter-NATO uncertainty, one astute internet observer remarked: "No one wants to take on the burden. Poland handed it on to the US, and now the US claims it is all Poland's fault. What a shambles."

Update (17:24ET): The amount of acrimony among friends on such a significant issue is unpleasant, if not humiliating. The Biden administration says it was taken entirely by "surprise" by Poland's announcement hours ago that it would move all of its Russian-made MiG-29 planes to Germany's Ramstein Air Base so that the US could transfer them to Ukraine.

While the proposed proposal was allegedly under discussion for some days, it does not seem that the White House was informed of Warsaw's final decision prior to the announcement being deemed a "done deal" through the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. Apparently, there was no such thing as a done deal in Washington.

"Poland's decision to place all of its MIG-29 planes at the disposal of the United States was not pre-planned with Washington," State Department Undersecretary Victoria Nuland said Tuesday in response to Poland's announcement. In addition:

"To my knowledge, it was not pre-arranged with us that they meant to provide us these aircraft," she said before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. "I'm looking forward to returning back to my desk after this hearing and seeing how we will react to their request to give us the aircraft," she added.

Here's how the conversation started:

"I was at a meeting where I should have heard about it just before I arrived (to a Senate hearing), so I believe it was a surprise action by the Poles," Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told US lawmakers.

When asked by a senator if US authorities had communicated with Poland ahead of time before Warsaw made its statement, Nuland said, "Not to my knowledge."

"The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all of their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America," according to an official statement from Poland.

During her Senate statement, Nuland also said that the US is actively exploring deploying Patriot missile batteries in Poland.

The weird back-and-forth over the "surprise" MiG fighter aircraft arrangement prompted some members of Congress to insist that the White House see it through, despite the fact that Poland seems to have already made an offer. According to the Warsaw statement, it would need Washington supplying new F-16s in exchange of the depleted MiGs at a later date.

All of this may have just pushed Warsaw into Russia's sights, or at least some Poles may be concerned... After all, the logistics of such a large move during a conflict inside Ukraine would be hazardous and complex to say the least. Russia has also warned that it may strike such externally supplied big military systems when they reach the country.

Then there came Tuesday's Senate session with Nuland, when this profoundly concerning prospect was floated:

Poland has stated that it is ready to send all of its Russian-made MIG-29 fighter fighters to Germany's Rammstein Air Base, the latest significant move in what has become a "massive operation" launched by individual NATO member nations to support Ukraine's military.

According to a statement released on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on Tuesday, the aircraft will be put "at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America," which is anticipated to transfer them to Ukraine after President Zelesnky submitted a series of urgent calls for fighter planes.

"After negotiations with the President and the Government, the authorities of the Republic of Poland are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all of its MIG-29 planes to the Rammstein Air Base and leave them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America," it stated.
MiG fighter file from Poland

It's part of a contentious pact that surfaced in recent days and was widely reported as being in the works, despite Poland downplaying it as late as Sunday, perhaps to avoid inciting Russia's fury. The second half of the pact, it was already established, would see Washington swiftly replace Warsaw's depleted MiG-29 planes with F-16 fighters.

The Polish government issued the following statement: "At the same time, Poland demands that the US give us with used aircraft with the necessary operating capability. Poland is ready to set the terms of the aircraft' acquisition right now."

"The Polish Government also demands that other NATO Allies – owners of MIG-29 planes – follow suit," the statement added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said that the US is "quite actively" considering resupplying Poland if it can rapidly deploy its own Russian-made aircraft to Ukraine.

"We are looking actively now at the topic of aircraft that Poland may offer to Ukraine and how we may be able to backfill should Poland decide to provide those planes," Blinken earlier said from Moldova, during a tour that emphasized the war's mounting refugee problem.

"A dangerous delivery," ABC's senior Washington reporter comments, considering Russia's vow to militarily obstruct large foreign weapons supplies...

Crucially, an unidentified Polish official recently told FT, "I can't comment to a timescale, but I can simply say we're looking at it very, very intensively." Furthermore, the official said, "Poland is not at war with Russia, but it is not a neutral nation since it supports Ukraine as the aggressor. However, it believes that all military decisions must be decided by Nato as a whole."

Many NATO nations have already supplied Ukraine with anti-tank and anti-air missiles, but if a large-scale movement to get more fighter jets to Kiev gains traction, this will undoubtedly mark a significant escalation, and the Kremlin has recently warned that such provocative military supplies coming from the West could be attacked.