Poland will give Ukraine more tanks than planes says presidential aide

Poland intends to give Ukraine fighter aircraft but less than the number of tanks it has provided, an aide to the Polish president has said.

Ukraine has been asking Western countries to give it combat aircraft and, in a recent interview for the CNN broadcaster, Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, said Poland was ready to give Ukraine its Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters and could in future provide the Ukrainian Air Force with its American-made F-16s.

Pawel Szrot, the head of Duda's office, said: "Regarding Poland's donation of planes to Ukraine, there will not be very many, there will certainly be fewer planes than tanks."

He added that any transfer of aircraft would take place within a broader coalition of countries.

In January the government said it would send 60 Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine, in addition to 14 modern Leopard tanks.