Staff report

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) released the following statement Tuesday:

“We commend the Republic of Poland for their decision to deploy all of their MiG-29 fighter jets ‘immediately and free of charge’ to Ramstein Air Base and ‘place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America.’ This is a courageous and virtuous decision by Poland and we applaud their leadership that rises to meet the gravity of the moment and assist our Ukraine partners in their moment of need. It further solidifies the bond our countries share and reaffirms the importance of the NATO alliance.

“As outlined in our letter on Saturday, we urge the administration to immediately provide a plan to fulfill Poland’s request to backfill their fleet with U.S. aircraft as we called for last week. We also hope other NATO allies will follow Poland’s lead and make their Soviet-era aircraft available to the Ukrainians.

“Doing so would give Ukraine the ability to continue contesting its skies and provide a tremendous morale boost to their military and the people of Ukraine as they continue to fight for their freedom and future.”