Germany has approved "the delivery of five MiG-29 from the inventories of the [East German] National People's Army", Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement, as reported by AFP.

The Soviet-designed jets, codenamed the Fulcrum by NATO, came into the possession of the German army following reunification, and were sold to Poland in 2003.

Under the contract, Poland had to request permission from Berlin to pass the jets on to another country – in this case Ukraine.

"This shows you can rely on Germany," Pistorius said.

Germany and Poland had clashed in recent months over battle tanks to Ukraine, with Warsaw urging Berlin to approve the delivery of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

Germany relented in January, agreeing in the end to send a total of 18 of its own Leopards to Ukraine.

That green light from Chancellor Olaf Scholz only came after the United States said it would send 31 of its own M-1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

While the tank dispute centered on providing Kyiv with higher quality Western-made weapons, the jets replenish Ukraine's stores of Soviet-made equipment.

Poland was the first NATO member to pledge fighter jets to Ukraine in March and began deliveries in early April.

Warsaw has said it is ready to give away all of its MiG-29s, around 30, though not all were purchased from Germany.

Poland's neighbor Slovakia has also delivered the Soviet-made jet fighter to Ukraine.

But despite requests from Kyiv, no modern jet fighters such as the US-designed F-16 Fighting Falcon have been pledged, with Washington and Berlin ruling out sending warplanes.

The Netherlands and France have not ruled out sending jets and in February, the United Kingdom offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots.

 

Summer decision

Meanwhile, Denmark's defense minister said on Tuesday he expected the Danes and allies to decide on whether to donate Western jet fighters to Ukraine "before the summer", as deliveries of Polish and Slovak MiG-29s had begun, AFP reported.

Discussions are taking time because countries have to act together, acting defense minister Troels Lund Poulsen said during a visit to Ukraine.

"Denmark will not do it alone," Lund Poulsen told several Danish media outlets, adding that a decision was still achievable "in the near future."

"We need to do this together with several countries. We will also have a dialogue with the Americans about this," the minister said.

Denmark has a fleet of 43 F-16s, manufactured by US defense giant Lockheed Martin, 30 of which are in active service.

The fleet is being replaced by the more modern F-35 Lightning II, also made by Lockheed Martin, of which Denmark has purchased 27.

 

Boosting air defenses

In a separate development, Romania aims to buy F-35 fighter planes to boost its air defenses, the country's supreme defense council (CSAT) said in a statement on Tuesday, as reported by Reuters.

The European Union and NATO state has raised defense spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product this year from 2 percent, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The country, which shares a 650-kilometer border with Ukraine, is host to a US ballistic missile defense system and, as of 2022, has a permanent alliance battlegroup stationed on its territory.

"Having robust, credible, interoperable, flexible and efficient air defense operational capabilities ... as part of our commitments as a NATO and EU state is key to Romania meeting its defence policy objectives," the statement said.

"The air force's modernization process will continue through the acquisition of last generation F-35 jets."

The council did not elaborate on timing or numbers.

President Klaus Iohannis said in 2022 that Romania was mulling acquiring F-35 planes.