Sean Penn calls on U.S., Poland to end 'bottleneck,' supply Ukraine with jets
Sean Penn is calling on the United States and Poland to get those fighter jets to Ukraine as soon as possible — and he wants the public's help.
Poland offered to supply MiG-29 jets to the U.S. to be delivered to Ukraine amid Russia's unprovoked war, but the Pentagon said it is not "a tenable" plan. On Wednesday, Penn shared a photo of him on FaceTime with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who emphasized the country needs those planes.
"Somewhere in the bureaucratic chain between our White House & the Polish Gov., the desperately NEEDED jets are not yet delivered to Ukraine. Public outcry may find the bottleneck," Penn tweeted.
I JUST got off a call with President Zelensky’s Chief of staff, Andriy Yermak. Somewhere in the bureaucratic chain between our White House & the Polish Gov., the desperately NEEDED jets are not yet delivered to Ukraine. Public outcry may find the bottleneck. pic.twitter.com/jFfRQTuT1K
— Sean Penn (@SeanPenn) March 9, 2022
The Oscar-winning actor is filming a documentary about the conflict and was in Ukraine with Zelensky on the eve of Russia's invasion. He safely made it to the Polish border last week. Penn praised Zelensky for his "courage and dignity" during an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Friday. He made it clear the U.S. needs to do more.
"[Ukrainians] are fighting for their lives, and will continue to fight for their lives, and I feel that we as Americans are plummeting off a cliff — the top of which is our flag which represents all of our dreams and the best of our dreams," he explained. "We'e plummeting where it will go out of our sight. I don’t know the answers. I don’t know if 'no fly zones' will create a nuclear war. I do know that we have to invest everything that we have to support the Ukrainian people, and support President Zelensky, or we will not have a memory of what America used to be."
Penn's nonprofit group, Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), is assisting refugees and people in Ukraine.
"We're distributing hygiene kits. We’re giving cash assistance and water to refugees as they come through," he explained. "We're working now to bring our staff into the other side as well because you really have two kinds of struggles with the refugees. One is trying to get out of the country, and the other, figuring out what to do."
MORE: Sean Penn walks to Ukraine-Poland border
