In an unannounced visit to Kiev, Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. will support Ukraine in its fight against Russia “for however long it takes”.
“We have every confidence that you will continue to win,” he said.
This is Biden’s first visit to Ukraine as president, and this Friday marks the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “grossly wrong” in thinking Russia could outlast Ukraine and its Western allies.
However, Reuters quoted US National Security Advisor Sullivan as saying at a press conference that the United States notified Russia in advance “for the purpose of eliminating conflicts” a few hours before Biden’s departure.
According to Agence France-Presse, Biden’s secret visit even took a Boeing 757 that was one size smaller than the plane used by US presidents during foreign visits. The covers of every porthole were pulled down.
Image of Biden arriving at Warsaw airport
Image of Biden arriving in Kiev by train
aid package
Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the two also visited a memorial to soldiers who died in the nine years since Russia annexed Crimea and its proxy forces occupied parts of eastern Donbass.
A White House statement said Biden’s trip was intended to reaffirm the United States’ “strong commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
He secretly took a 10-hour train ride from Poland to Kiev, and later returned to Poland. After the visit, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a $450 million security aid package for Ukraine, including howitzer ammunition and the Seahorse rocket system, Javelin missiles and air surveillance radar.
Blinken said the U.S. would also provide Ukraine with an additional $10 million in emergency aid to maintain Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s victory over Russia depended on determination, which he saw in Biden.
He also said the two leaders discussed the possibility of delivering other weapons. Zelensky has repeatedly requested the purchase of F16 fighter jets, but the United States and other allies have not yet agreed.
Commenting on the visit, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said defeat would befall those who “sold their souls to the Americans”.
While other world leaders have visited Ukraine in the past year, the U.S. president was in Kiev for the first time during a war in which U.S. soldiers did not fight.
image source,Getty Images
The U.S. is one of Ukraine’s biggest allies, and the U.S. State Department has so far announced $24.9 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
In January of this year, Biden announced that the United States will send 31 main battle tanks, and long-range missiles are also on the way.
How was Biden’s Ukraine trip kept secret?
BBC North America editor Sarah Smith
It was an almost unheard-of daring trip for an American president.
Appearing in a war zone often under attack, White House officials called Biden’s surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital Kiev “unprecedented in modern times.”
They said previous visits by the US president to wartime Iraq and Afghanistan had been heavily backed by US troops.
Despite widespread media speculation that Biden may be planning a visit to Ukraine during his visit to Poland, the visit took everyone by surprise.
He appeared next to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy amid air-raid sirens in central Kiev, and his message was louder than anything he said in a speech in Poland.
Biden was due to fly from the United States to Warsaw on Monday evening for a two-day visit. There were two suspiciously long gaps in the pre-arranged itinerary, and many had previously wondered if this was the time for him to slip into Ukraine.
During the daily White House press briefing, reporters have been repeatedly asking questions about the visit. He was told, however, that no meeting with Zelenskiy was scheduled and that there were no plans to stop outside Warsaw “at this time”.
The trip to Kiev was planned by several of the president’s top aides months ago, but the final decision was made on Friday.
On Sunday, the official White House itinerary still showed the president departing for Warsaw at 19:00 ET on Monday evening (00:00 GMT on Tuesday). In fact, Biden’s plane took off at 04:15 ET on Sunday morning.
A small team of his closest aides, medical team and security officials were placed on board.
Only two reporters were allowed to travel with the president. They were required to keep a secret and their mobile phones were confiscated. They were not allowed to report on the visit until Biden arrived in Kiev.
Subsequently, Biden took a 10-hour train to Kiev. He could have traveled to other more accessible parts of Ukraine, but he wanted to make a symbolic visit to Kiev.
