U.S. will remain with Ukraine for ‘as long as it takes,’ Biden says on surprise visit to Kyiv

US President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit Monday to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a gesture of solidarity that comes days before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the neighboring country.

Biden made the comments and met with Zelenskyy at the Mariinsky Palace to announce an additional half a billion dollars in US aid and to assure Ukraine of support from America and its allies as the conflict continues.

“One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands,” Biden said.

The visit to Ukraine comes at a crucial moment in the war as Biden looks to get allies to unite in support for Ukraine as the war is expected to intensify with both sides preparing for a spring offensive. Zelenskyy pressed allies to speed up the delivery of promised weapons systems and asked the West to send fighter jets to Ukraine – something Biden has so far refused to do.

Biden’s mission with a visit to Kyiv – and then Warsaw – to confirm that the US is ready to continue its support to Kyiv as it expels Russian forces, with the US leader saying “the United States will stand with Ukraine as long as it needs it. .”

For Zelenskyy, the symbolism of having the US president stand with him on Ukrainian soil as the anniversary approaches is not small as he calls on US and European allies to provide more advanced weapons and increase the speed of delivery.

The visit also gave Biden a chance to see firsthand the damage done by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have been killed, millions of refugees have fled the war, and Ukraine has suffered tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure damage.

The trip also marks an act of defiance against Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hopes his military will quickly overrun Kyiv within days. A year later, the Ukrainian capital stood up and normality has returned to the city as fighting has concentrated in the eastern part of the country, punctuated by cruise missiles and drone attacks on military and civilian infrastructure.

Air raid sirens

Biden also felt the terror that Ukrainians have experienced for a year, as air raid sirens wailed across the capital as he and Zelenskyy emerged from the cathedral they opened together. Looking serious, he continues to stand in front of the wall in honor of Ukrainian soldiers who have died since 2014.

Although Western surface-to-air missile systems have bolstered Ukraine’s defenses, the visit is a rare occasion when a US president travels to a conflict zone where the US or its allies cannot control airspace. It was not immediately clear whether the US had given Moscow advance notice of the trip to avoid a miscalculation that could have brought the two nuclear-armed nations into direct conflict.

The U.S. military is not in Ukraine except for a small detachment of Marines guarding the embassy in Kyiv, making Biden’s visit more complicated than any previous U.S. leader’s visit to a war zone.

Speculation has been building for weeks that Biden will visit Ukraine around February 24, the anniversary of the Russian invasion. But the White House has repeatedly said no presidential trip to Ukraine is planned, even after a visit to Poland was announced earlier this month.

At the White House, plans for Biden’s visit to Kyiv are being closely guarded — with a relatively small group of aides briefed on the plan — because of security concerns.

Asked by reporters on Friday if Biden might stop beyond Poland, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby replied, “For now, the trip will be in Warsaw.” Moments later – and without prompting – Kirby added, “I said ‘now.’ The trip will be in — to Warsaw.

Biden quietly departed Joint Base Andrews near Washington shortly after 4 a.m. Sunday, stopping at Ramstein Air Base in Germany before entering Ukraine.

Other western leaders have traveled to Kyiv since the start of the war.

In June, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi traveled together by night train to Kyiv to meet with Zelenskyy. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Kyiv in November shortly after taking office.

This is Biden’s first visit to a war zone as president. His predecessors, Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, made surprise visits to Afghanistan and Iraq during their presidency to meet with US troops and the country’s leaders.