US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv and met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy, declaring “unwavering support” in a show of solidarity as Russia’s invasion nears the one-year mark.
(Bloomberg) — US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv and met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy, declaring “unwavering support” in a show of solidarity as Russia’s invasion nears the one-year mark.
Biden, who was originally slated to visit neighboring Poland this week, appeared in the Ukrainian capital at 8 a.m. on Monday as police sealed off main streets. While he was there, an air alarm went off — an every-day occurrence in cities hammered by Russian air strikes since President Vladimir Putin sent tanks across the border on Feb. 24, 2022.
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“One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands,” Biden said after meeting Zelenskiy and his wife outside of the president’s residence, known as Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv. “I’m here to show our unwavering support for the nation’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
There were no immediate reports of any missile launches or explosions. The air-raid alarm may have been triggered by a Russian surveillance plane and accompanying fighter jets in Belarus that flew closer to the Ukrainian border than usual before returning to base, according to the monitoring group Belarusian Hajun.
The visit comes as Ukraine’s main allies chew over how to support Ukraine in what they now understand will be a long war. The US, European countries and other allies have already poured cash and weapons into the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people and driven about a third of Ukraine’s pre-war 41 million population from their homes.
Wearing a blue suit and a tie striped the colors of Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag, Biden said he will pledge another $500 million in aid to Ukraine “today or tomorrow.” The package will include artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars, Biden said.
The US will also announce additional sanctions later this week against people and companies that are trying to evade sanctions and “back the Russian war machine,” he added.
“Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided,” said Biden, who like other Western leaders arrived in Kyiv by train, for safety reasons. “He thought he could outlast us. I don’t think he’s thinking that right now. God knows what he’s thinking but I don’t think he’s thinking that. He’s been plain wrong.”
Zelenskiy said he and Biden had also discussed the issue of long-range weapons, but gave no further details.
Following his visit to Kyiv, Biden will travel to Poland to meet President Andrzej Duda and other US allies from NATO’s eastern flank, according to the statement.
The Ukrainian part of Biden’s trip, which Zelenskiy’s administration had long requested, was planned quickly and in secret and only revealed to reporters upon his arrival. White House aides for the past week insisted that no such visit was planned, despite Biden’s proximity to the country.
This is the first time the US president has traveled to the country since Putin’s invasion, and he is one of the last major allies to do so after many of Biden’s Group of Seven counterparts visited Kyiv over the past year. The last US president to visit Ukraine was George W. Bush in 2008.
Biden is in Ukraine as Zelenskiy pressures allies for additional weapons and underscores the need to deliver them quickly.
Ukraine’s military is now facing stepped-up attacks from Russian forces in the east in pitched battles that are ratcheting up the death toll in Europe’s biggest open conflict since World War II.
“Mister President I know that a large package of military support is expected, and right now such a package is a clear signal that Russia’s attempts at revenge will have no chances,” Zelenskiy, wearing his signature military-style sweatshirt, olive pants and beige boots, said in a speech.
Putin is due to address the federal assembly of lawmakers and top officials on Tuesday. It’s also the anniversary of his decision to recognize the independence of Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, triggering the slide toward his full-scale invasion days later.
The Russian president may also meet with Wang Yi, China’s state councilor, when he visits Moscow this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Tass. Wang is stopping in Russia after tense talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Munich over the weekend.
The White House is warning Beijing against providing lethal aid to Russia after US officials revealed concerns about intelligence that China is considering doing so. Officials have not said what the consequences would be for Beijing but that they consider it a red line that must not be crossed.
–With assistance from Jenny Leonard, Iain Rogers, Jennifer Jacobs and Daryna Krasnolutska.
(Updates with Biden speech starting in fourth paragraph.)
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