In a gesture of solidarity to mark the anniversary of the Russian invasion which falls on February 24, US President Joe Biden visited kyiv on Monday to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, and announce $500 million in military aid to Ukraine.
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The two leaders met at kyiv’s Mariinsky Palace and later appeared before the press. “One year later, Kiev is still standing. Ukraine is still standing and democracy is still standing. America stands by you and the whole world stands by you,” Biden proclaimed, surrounded by American and Ukrainian flags.
These are the keys to this surprise visit, which, according to the White House, Washington He notified Rusa “hours before.”
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‘unwavering’ support
The US president recalled how almost a year ago, when the invasion began, he spoke on the phone with Zelensky and he asked him to rally world leaders to support Ukraine. “You told me you could hear explosions in the background, I’ll never forget that,” he stated.
A year later, Biden said he did not want to leave any doubt about Washington’s “unwavering” support for kyiv and announced a new military aid package that will include artillery ammunition, howitzers and Javelin missiles, a man-portable weapon designed to destroy tanks and other heavy vehicles.
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In addition to this military aid, Biden announced that this week he will impose new sanctions on Russia with the aim of hitting those Russian elites and companies that are helping the Kremlin to avoid the sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries since the start of the war.
Next to Biden, Zelensky thanked him for his visit at a “difficult” time for Ukraine and assured that today’s negotiations bring Ukraine “closer to victory.”
Zelensky also assured that the United States is considering supplying Ukraine with a type of long-range missile that has not been sent to kyiv so far.
Ukraine already this month asked the United States to supply ATACMS missiles, which can hit targets almost 300 kilometers away and could even reach the annexed Crimean peninsula; but Washington has so far refused to send such weapons. “Our negotiations today have been very fruitful,” Zelensky said.
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air raid sirens
The two leaders then visited St. Michael’s Cathedral, a symbol of Ukraine’s resistance after its priests sheltered students protesting against then-President Viktor Yanukovych, a Moscow ally, there in 2013. Biden and Zelensky entered the church for about 10 minutes, and on the way out, air raid sirens began to be heard throughout the city.
The two leaders then laid a wreath at the foot of a memorial wall honoring Ukraine’s fallen soldiers in the war against Russia and, as a military salute sounded, the two looked down and remained silent for a few moments. minutes.
An unexpected visit
The visit was not disclosed until it was in progress and had been kept secret for security reasons. The White House revealed today that Biden’s plane took off on the night of Sunday to Monday from the Andrews Air Force Base (Maryland), on the outskirts of Washington, and arrived in Kiev around 08:00 local time.
Since the early hours of the morning, the center of Kiev remained closed to traffic without any official explanation and, on social networks, videos of armored vehicles circulating along those avenues began to circulate, which gave rise to speculation about a possible visit by Biden.
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Before the visit was confirmed, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, had canceled a visit to Brussels and the “number two” of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Andriy Melnyk, had announced on television that one of the allies of Ukraine was in the capital, without giving further details.
This is the first time Biden has visited kyiv since the start of the war, although First Lady Jill Biden traveled to the Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod.on the border with Slovakia, on May 8, coinciding with the celebration of Mother’s Day in Ukraine.
Among others, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz; the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez.
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Biden plans to start an official visit to Poland tomorrow Tuesday to reaffirm his commitment to the countries on the eastern flank of NATO.
Prior notice to Russia
Biden’s trip to Kiev was planned in secret for months, with the participation of only a handful of advisers and with prior notice to Russia, which learned of the president’s plans a few hours before his departure from Washington.
This was detailed to the press this Monday by some of the US leader’s main advisers, including the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, who was part of the small entourage that accompanied Biden.
Sullivan explained that Washington sent a notification to Moscow about Biden’s trip to kyiv only “a few hours” before his plane left Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.on the outskirts of Washington, and explained that the objective of the message was to avoid any accident that could escalate the conflict.
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When asked by the press, the adviser refused to reveal the content of the message sent to the Kremlin due to the “sensitive nature” of this type of communication with Russia.
Biden’s visit was not disclosed until it was in progress and had been kept secret for security reasons. However, the trip did not come spur of the moment and had been “meticulously planned” for months, revealed Jonathan Finer, Sullivan’s “number two” on the White House National Security Council, the body in charge of US foreign policy. .
This visit, that of a US president to a zone where a war is being fought, is historic and without precedent.
According to Finer, for security reasons, only a handful of advisers from the White House, the Pentagon and the Secret Service were involved in planning the trip, in addition to some members of the intelligence services whose mission was to ensure the security of the president in Kiev.
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All these advisors carefully designed each stage of the trip, including how Biden would get to kyiv, and they also drew up other backup plans in case any kind of problem arose when the president was on the ground.
Biden was the one who made the final decision to go to kyiv on Friday, considering that there were risks, but that they were manageable. The president came to that conclusion after an extensive meeting Friday in the Oval Office of the White House with his advisers and members of his cabinet, some of whom participated by phone, Finer said.
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A complicated visit
Logistically the trip was especially complicated because US presidents rarely visit war zones and when they do, as they have done in recent years in Iraq or Afghanistan, there are often US troops on the ground to ensure their security.
However, The United States does not have troops in Ukraine, so the trip required more planning and much more care.explained the director of communications of the White House, Kate Bedingfield.
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“This visit, by a US president to a war zone, is historic and unprecedented,” Bedingfield said. Despite the risks, Biden decided to go to Ukraine to show his commitment to Ukraine, just when there are four days left before the anniversary of the Russian invasion that began on February 24, 2022.
Biden has already left Kiev, after a visit that lasted six hours, and this Tuesday he will begin an official visit to Poland to reaffirm his commitment to the countries on the eastern flank of NATO.
WILLIAM MORENO HERNANDEZ
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
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