migs to ramstein is logistically not tenable and risks broadening the conflict. intelligence community has assessed the transfer of mig 29s to ukraine may be mistaken as escalatory and could result in significant russian reaction that might increase the prospects of a military escalation with nato. president zelenskyy says it s time for nato to do whatever it can. listen, we have a war. we do not have time for all these signals. this is not ping-pong. this is about human lives. we ask once again solve it faster. do not shift the responsibility, send us planes. meanwhile, lloyd austin met with finland s defense minister at the pentagon today and announced he sent two patriot missile batteries to poland to defend polish airspace. they are now in position and manned, we re told. u.s. defense officials say president zelenskyy still has most of his air force intact.
the ukrainian air force currently has several squadrons of fully missioned capable aircraft. we adding aircraft is not likely to significantly change the effectiveness of the ukrainian air force relative to russian capabilities. the weapons that are having the biggest effect in stopping russian forces are the 17,000 javelin anti-tank missiles, stingers and shoulder fired man portable air defense missiles the u.s. has sent to ukraine in recent weeks. russia still has powerful air defense systems on the border with belarus and in russia that blanket much of ukraine s airspace which makes flying warplanes over ukraine difficult the pentagon says. those anti-aircraft systems would have to be taken out by ukraine s air force before it could even fly those migs to any effect. and that, u.s. intelligence assess he is, could be viewed by putin as an attack by nato if those polish migs are used which could draw nato into direct