Nad: No Talks on Providing MiG-29s to Ukraine, as No Request Made

Bratislava, April 12 (TASR) - Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad (OLaNO) claimed on Tuesday that Ukraine has never asked Slovakia to provide its MiG-29 fighter jets, which is why the Government isn't holding talks on this matter. What Ukraine has asked for, according to Nad, are Slovak-made Zuzana howitzers and repairs of damaged Ukrainian military technology at Slovak repair facilities, matters that are both being discussed. Speaking on a note related to the fighters, Nad claimed that Slovakia is currently holding talks with NATO on the protection of Slovak airspace. He noted that he expects a decision to be made in the near future. Only when this issue has been taken care of will he start caring about what should be done with the MiGs. Last year, Slovakia paid Russia €55 million for maintaining the fighters. According to Nad, having NATO protect Slovak skies wouldn't be more expensive, "not even by a single euro when compared to what we pay the Russians for the MiGs". zel/df