US President Joe Biden has no plans to travel to Ukraine in the near future, the White House insisted on Monday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for the Democrat to visit country to prove the devastation caused by the Russian invasion.
“There are no plans for President Biden to travel to Ukraine,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
The aide said, however, that there are plans for a senior US official to travel to Ukraine and that the information will not be released in advance due to “security concerns”.
The spokeswoman responded to Zelensky’s request on Sunday for Biden to visit Ukraine and see first-hand the war unleashed by the Russian invasion on February 24.
“Of course the decision is his, and it depends on security, but I think that the leader of the United States should come here to observe,” Zelensky said in an interview with the American broadcaster CNN.
After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the outskirts of Kiev, Biden revealed that he was considering sending a member of his administration to Ukraine. Some newspapers speculate that this person could be Secretary of State Antony Blinken or Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Biden was in Poland at the end of March, a country neighboring Ukraine that has taken in the largest number of refugees due to the war, but at that time he excluded the possibility of setting foot on Ukrainian territory.
Zelensky expressed gratitude for US military aid, including the additional $800 million package announced last week, but asked for more support.
Last week, Biden announced an additional package of military assistance to Ukraine with more lethal weaponry to face Russia in the new phase of the invasion more focused on the Donbass region, in the east of the country.
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