Slovakia is ready to transfer its MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine

Sky News reported the update, citing Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy during a press conference with British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace in Bratislava

Slovakia is open to negotiations regarding the transfer of its fleet of 11 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. The country will stop operating them from the end of August and expects that from the beginning of September, Polish and Czech aircraft will close the skies of Slovakia.

According to Nagy, his country is not big enough to be able to unilaterally transfer military planes that Ukrainian pilots can use, so allies are needed to offer replacements with other planes or money.  He said that each MiG-29 costs about 35 million euros.

The minister emphasized that his country cannot just hand over the aircraft: "We are open to discussion to donate those MIG-29s to Ukraine but certainly this will require, I would say, a broader discussion about taking into account financial aspects and all other aspects of so no decision has been made yet".

"Immediately when we ground them and the Czech and Polish will take over air policing, we can discuss the future of the MIG-29s," said the head of the Slovak Defense Ministry.