Ukraine's president has pushed for the formation of a coalition of Western powers to supply modern fighter aircraft to Kyiv and suggested that while his forces continue to control the battleground eastern city of Bakhmut, a withdrawal would be possible if it meant sparing Ukrainian soldiers' lives.
Speaking during a visit to Warsaw on April 5, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy noted Poland's role in convincing Western countries to provide battle tanks to Ukraine and suggested that a similar "planes coalition" could be formed.
Zelenskiy's comments came as his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, pledged to give Ukraine more updated Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets and Warsaw agreed to supply more defense equipment and military support to help Ukraine fend off invading Russian forces.
On top of the eight MiG-29s that have either been delivered to Ukraine or are on the way, Duda said that Poland is preparing to give six more, bringing the total to 14 aircraft.
"We assume they could be transferred soon," the Polish president said.
Duda's foreign policy adviser, Marcin Przydacz, said Poland would not decide soon on whether to send any of the U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine has consistently called on NATO to provide, however. There has been no agreement from Washington or other Western states who have provided military aid to Ukraine to send F-16s.
Zelenskiy did sign agreements for the supply of Polish "Rosomak armored personnel carriers, Rak self-propelled mortars, air-defense systems, in particular the very effective Peruns, MiGs, and other weapons that we badly need," he said at a news conference following talks with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Turning to the intense battle for the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian forces continue to hold the city, despite Russian claims to have captured it.
The Battle For Bakhmut: The Bloodiest Infantry Brawl Since World War II
"We are in Bakhmut and the enemy does not control it," he said. But he also indicated that a withdrawal of Ukrainian forces was a possibility.
"For me, the most important is not to lose our soldiers and, of course, if there is a moment of even hotter events and the danger we could lose our personnel because of encirclement -- of course, the corresponding correct decisions will be taken by generals there," Zelenskiy said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin-connected businessman who controls the Wagner mercenary group, says he has seen no signs of Ukrainian forces withdrawing from Bakhmut.
"It must be said clearly that the enemy is not going anywhere," he said in a post on Telegram on April 6.
In an analysis of Zelenskiy's comments, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that while an expected Ukrainian spring offensive would reveal whether its defense of Bakhmut "is worth Ukrainian losses," the Ukrainian military continues to "clearly signal that Ukrainian forces are still not encircled and have the option to withdraw as necessary."
In its morning battleground update, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on April 6 that Russian forces were still trying to take full control of Bakhmut and were continuing to storm it. Both sides have incurred heavy losses during the monthslong battle for the city, despite questions about its strategic importance to the war.
According to the Ukrainian military command, Bakhmut as well as Avdiyivka, and Maryinka, two Ukrainian-held towns on the outskirts of Donetsk, remain at the epicenter of hostilities.
The authorities of the Donetsk region have been calling on residents to evacuate to safer regions, and there have been reports of the evacuations of children.
