Republican senators questioned U.S. officials in a Thursday Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about why they refused Poland's plan to send fighter jets to Ukraine, The Hill reported.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., slammed intelligence officials for "failing to help Poland," which would have sent its MiG-29 fighter jets to Germany for deployment to Ukraine, with the U.S. later resupplying Poland's aircraft capabilities.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Polish officials on Tuesday he did not support the transfer of the jets "at this time" because it was high-risk, according to his press secretary.
Putin "might be A-okay with us transferring missiles that turn their tanks into burning piles of rubbish or shoot their jets out of the sky, yet transferring tactical aircraft is considered unacceptable?" Cotton asked the committee.
"I don't think there's a lot of common sense between the distinction," he added.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines responded to the Republican senators inquiring about the deal, claiming that Putin would view the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine as a serious escalation.
"It's whether or not they perceive us as being in conflict with them," Haines said. "We're in a very challenging position right now where we are obviously providing enormous amounts of support to Ukraine ... but at the same time, trying not to escalate the conflict into a full-on NATO or U.S. war with Russia."
On Thursday Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said the Biden administration should be "doing more" to help Ukrainians.
"There's a war going on and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is a hero on behalf of 44 million Ukrainians," Sasse said. "He's asking for more help and the administration should be doing more faster."
The hearing on Thursday came the same day the House approved an additional $14 billion in humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine within an omnibus spending bill, according to The Hill.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.