KIEV, UKRAINE (Reuters) – President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling countries like him “waging a brutal and unjust war.” A few days ago, he defiantly showed solidarity with the West. – Anniversary of the invasion of Russia.
“In a year, Kiev will be there,” Biden said after meeting with Zelensky at the Mariinsky Palace. Pinching his fingers to highlight the podium flanked by US and Ukrainian flags, he continued:“And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans are on your side, the world is on your side.”
Biden spent more than five hours in the Ukrainian capital, consulting with Zelensky on next steps, honoring the nation’s war dead, and meeting with U.S. embassy officials in the war-torn country. The visit takes place at a decisive moment.
Biden is looking to unite his allies in support of Ukraine as spring attacks are expected to escalate the war. Zelensky has urged allies to accelerate the delivery of promised weapons systems and urged the West to provide fighter jets, something Biden has rejected.
As the US president wrapped up a visit to the gold-domed St. Michael’s Cathedral with President Zelensky, air raid sirens blared and the horrors Ukrainians had lived with for most of his year.
Two wreaths have been placed on the wall of the monument to honor Ukrainian soldiers killed since 2014, the year Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea and Russia-backed fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine. I kept silence for one minute.
The White House declined to give details, but National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden briefed Moscow on his visit to Kiev shortly before leaving Washington. armed nation. In Kiev, Biden announced an additional $5 billion in US aid. In addition to her over $50 billion already provided, includes howitzer shells, anti-tank missiles, air surveillance radars and other aid, but no new advanced weapons.
Ukraine is also pushing ahead with battlefield systems that allow its forces to strike Russian targets retreating from frontline areas beyond the range of her already deployed HIMARS missiles. Zelensky said he had discussed with Biden “long-range weapons and weapons that hadn’t been delivered before but may still be delivered to Ukraine.” However, he did not name any new commitments.
“Our negotiations went very well,” added Zelensky.
The president usually traveled with a small entourage, accompanied only by a few senior advisers and his two journalists to maintain secrecy. Biden quietly left Joint Base Andrews near Washington at 4 a.m.
At 3pm on Sunday, we will stop at Ramstein Air Base in Germany before heading to Ukraine. He arrived in Kiev at 8 am on Monday.
Other Western leaders have visited Kiev since the war began.
In June, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and then Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi traveled together on a night train to Kiev to meet with Zelensky. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Kiev in his November shortly after taking office. This is the first time Biden has visited a conflict zone as president. His most recent predecessors, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush, made surprise visits to Afghanistan and Iraq during their presidency to meet with U.S. forces and their leaders.
