Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the U.S. and Poland of playing games with people's lives after the Pentagon poured cold water on a plan to get fighter jets to Ukraine hours before Vice President Kamala Harris departed for a three-day Eastern Europe trip.
'There is an official decision of Poland to transfer the planes to the relevant base - the American base,' Zelensky said in a Wednesday speech. 'We also have confirmation - we have all heard - that the agreement between the American party and Poland has been reached.'
'But at the same time, we hear that Poland's proposal is allegedly unfounded,' he continued. 'And that's what they say in Washington. We also read this. So when will the decision be made?'
'Listen,' the Ukrainian leader pleaded, '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,' Zelensky demanded.
Also on Wednesday morning, Harris departed for Poland on some shaky ground with the defunct prospect of sending warplanes to Ukraine and after the U.S. and NATO shut down Kyiv's plea to set up a no-fly zone above the country.
Harris' trip is meant to serve as a fact finding mission to see how the U.S. can support Ukraine's NATO-allied neighboring nations, according to senior administration officials.
It also comes as Congress has also reached a deal to send $13.6 billion to Ukraine and Harris will reiterate U.S. support for the former Soviet-bloc country.
The vice president will warn during her trip that Russian President Vladimir Putin has 'made a mistake' that will result in a 'resounding strategic defeat' for Moscow.
Her three-day stint will include a stop in Romania, another NATO country where U.S. troops are stationed and stand ready to defend should Russia move further than Ukraine's borders.
The visit was also complicated by the Pentagon hours before her arrival when pouring cold water on Poland's offer to hand all its MiG-29 fighter jets to the U.S., apparently as part of an arrangement to deliver the warplanes to Ukraine 's armed forces where they are desperately needed to fight off invading Russian forces.
The idea has been floating around for more than a week after Ukraine pleaded for more aircraft, but the plan has been dogged by questions about how to deliver the planes to Ukrainian territory without dragging NATO into the conflict.