A Ukrainian official said Tuesday that Kyiv doesn't want American A-10 Warthog planes after a US Air Force official suggested the US might send older aircraft to Ukraine.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall was asked last week if the US could send Ukraine A-10s, which the Air Force is phasing out. "That's largely up to Ukraine," he said in response. "Older US systems are a possibility. … We will be open to discussions with them about what their requirements are and how we might be able to satisfy them."

Yuriy Sak, an advisor to Ukraine's defense minister, told Military.com that A-10s "will not close our sky, they will not stop bombers and missiles." He said the A-10 "will be a target for Russian jet fighters and anti-aircraft defense, because we don't have the means neither to effectively cover them, nor to break through the enemy anti-aircraft defense."