Poland: Ukraine Backing Out of Drone-for-MiG Deal
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- Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told Polish radio Trojka on July 2 that Ukraine had initially agreed to a deal trading drone technology for the remaining Polish MiG-29 fighter jets but is now "not honouring the agreement" after months of talks.
- Poland has been one of Ukraine's strongest backers since the 2022 full-scale invasion, supplying military aid and serving as a logistics hub for Western assistance — making the alleged reversal a pointed breach of the bilateral relationship.
- Kosiniak-Kamysz noted that Ukraine is already selling drones commercially to Kuwait and generating revenue, arguing Kyiv is therefore capable of "reciprocating to those who provide their equipment" rather than withholding the promised technology.
- Polish President Karol Nawrocki recently stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Poland's highest state honour over a Ukrainian military unit named after insurgents Warsaw blames for massacres of Poles during World War Two.
- Kosiniak-Kamysz alleged that Ukraine is deliberately keeping the historical dispute alive for domestic political reasons, claiming "a conflict rooted in history is what is currently building President Zelenskiy's image."
- Kosiniak-Kamysz warned that Ukraine's approach is fuelling support for far-right Polish parties seeking to capitalise on anti-Ukrainian sentiment, a second-order domestic political risk for Warsaw's continued military backing of Kyiv.
Why it matters: The dispute directly threatens a concrete military exchange — MiG-29s for drones — that both countries had been negotiating for months, and it surfaces a historical-memory fault line (a Ukrainian unit named after WWII-era anti-Polish insurgents) that could weaken Poland's political consensus for backing Kyiv. With Polish elections making far-right gains an active concern, even a symbolic honour-stripping has tangible consequences for aid pipelines.
