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Polish MiG-29 at air show in Radom (2015)
Photo: Kacper Pempel / REUTERS
The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Andriy Melnyk, has sharply criticized what he sees as the German government's hesitant attitude towards arms deliveries to Ukraine.
The clear cancellation of the delivery of MiG-29 combat aircraft from Poland is very disappointing for the Ukrainians, he said on Thursday evening in the ZDF program "Markus Lanz - An Evening for the Ukraine".
"It is indeed a cowardly decision - not only by the Americans, but also by the Germans." Germany said no to planes and no to tanks for Ukraine.
In view of the Russian war of aggression, tanks are also defensive weapons.
The Polish Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that the government was ready to move all of its MiG-29 fighter jets to the US Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate immediately and make the machines available to the US.
US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby denied this on Wednesday, saying such a plan was "unsustainable";
it could "lead to a significant Russian response that could increase the prospects of military escalation with NATO."
Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has been asking the West for warplanes to defend itself against Russian airstrikes.
Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria are the EU member states that still have Soviet-made MiG-29s in service.
These models are or were also in the inventory of the Ukrainian Air Force, whose pilots are trained on this type.
For a detailed analysis of the Polish offer debate, see: Why Washington doesn't want the Soviet airmen from Warsaw
Read background to the Polish jets here: The problem of the old MiGs
Melnyk criticized that Russian President Vladimir Putin "still determines the rules of the game, and the Germans, the Europeans, and the NATO countries are lagging behind."
He also called on the federal government to grant Ukraine a perspective for EU membership and to punish Putin more severely.
Courageous decisions are needed now and not just excuses.
The FDP politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff defended the position of the federal government.
The anti-tank weapons delivered to Ukraine are a concrete help and exactly the right tool.
However, the communication of the Poles in the case of the fighter jets was a debacle, he said.
"So it looks like Vladimir Putin is still deciding our politics here."
ok/dpa