Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, a few days before the first anniversary of Russia invasion of ukraine,
Their trip was shrouded in secrecy and they arrived after an hour-long train journey from Poland with an empty press travel pool of only one reporter and one photographer.
Air raid sirens rang out in Ukraine’s besieged capital, although there were no reports of Russian missiles or airstrikes.
He met with President Zelensky at the Mariinsky Palace and announced half a billion dollars in additional aid Artillery, ammunition, more Javelins and howitzers, as well as more sanctions on Russia to follow.
Biden said in a speech, ‘One year later, Kiev stands. And Ukraine is standing. Democracy is standing.
President Joe Biden was greeted in Kiev by President Volodymyr Zelensky during a surprise visit on Monday morning. Biden announces $500 million in new aid to Ukraine
Biden is pictured on a walkabout with Zelensky in Kiev during a surprise visit on Monday morning. Air raid sirens sounded although there were no reports of strikes
He praised the courage of Ukraine during the war and said that as Vice President he had visited Kiev six times.
‘I knew I’d be back,’ he said.
The president was scheduled to leave Washington on Monday evening for a two-day trip to Poland, where he would meet with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Warsaw to discuss a possible escalation of US troops there.
The White House said in its official instructions that he would leave at 7 pm on Monday.
Instead he was flying a stealth flight to see the struggle for himself and deliver a message of unity. He reached the city at 8 am local time.
Welcoming Biden to Kiev, Zelensky said: ‘Your visit is a very important sign of the support of all Ukrainians.’
He also said that they talked about new “long-range weapons and weapons that can still be supplied to Ukraine, although it was not supplied earlier.”
While other world leaders visited Kiev, Biden was forced to stay away by his Secret Service protectors, who were concerned about how the leader of the free world could travel safely to the war-torn country.
“I thought it was important that there be no doubt about American support for Ukraine in the war,” said Biden, who sat down for talks with Zelensky. ‘The Ukrainian people have stepped forward in a way that very few have done in the past.’
Zelensky welcomes Biden in Kiev at Mariinsky Palace, says: ‘Your visit is an extremely important sign of the support of all Ukrainians’
Biden was scheduled to leave Washington on Monday at 7 pm. Instead he slipped out on Sunday evening, leaving most of his traveling pool of reporters behind, to meet with Zelensky on Monday.
Biden announced his trip with a series of tweets, reaffirming US support for Ukraine
After their meeting at the palace, the pair surprised crowds in central Kiev, where they visited the gold-domed Cathedral of St. Michael and went on an outdoor walk.
Biden said: ‘As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, I look forward to meeting President Zelensky in Kiev today and expressing our unwavering and unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity to confirm the commitment.
‘When Putin launched his offensive almost a year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he could outrun us. But he was wrong.
He said he would spend the day discussing how best to help Ukraine in its fight.
“I will announce a further delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems and aerial surveillance radars, to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardment,” he said. ,
‘And I will share that later this week, we will announce additional sanctions against oligarchs and companies that are trying to avoid or backfill Russia’s war machine.’
The war has already killed hundreds of thousands of people, driven millions from their homes and reduced a string of cities in southern and eastern Ukraine to rubble.
A day earlier Zelensky said his forces were inflicting ‘extraordinarily significant’ damage on Russia’s military Vuhledar city in the eastern Donbass region.
‘The situation is very complicated. And we’re fighting. We are crushing the aggressors and inflicting exceptionally significant damage on Russia,’ he said in his nightly video address.
The Ukrainian resistance is credited with helping to defend its territories, with assistance from the US, allies and partners.
The US alone has sent the country more than $100 billion in arms and aid, of which the Pentagon spent $62.3 billion last year on arms and ammunition as well as training, logistics and salaries.
Yet little has changed in recent months on a grander front. Now both sides are gearing up for possible offensives in the spring.
Meanwhile, US officials have become increasingly concerned that China may be providing military aid to Russia’s war machine.
“We are deeply concerned that China is considering providing lethal support to Russia in its aggression against Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday morning.
Speculation has been building for weeks that Biden’s trip to Poland will also include a trip to Ukraine. But the White House has repeatedly said there are no plans to cross the border.
On this his wife beat him. First Lady Jill Biden crossed the border to meet with Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska on Mother’s Day last year.
Top Congress leaders have also traveled.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Senate Republican, led a delegation in May.
Ukrainian soldiers patrol after a Russian military offensive in Ugledar, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on February 19, 2023. Russia’s bombing has increased as life has come to a standstill
Ukrainian soldiers walk along a street in Siversk. Both sides are preparing for new attack
He was joined by GOP Sens. Susan Collins, John Cornyn and John Barrasso.
Two weeks earlier, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had made the trip.
As has Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Zelensky visited Washington in December ahead of the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives.
He met with Biden at the White House and then addressed a joint session of Congress, seeking to increase financial aid for the war, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested his GOP majority would support the Ukraine war effort. But may not be willing to spend taxpayer dollars. ,