United States President Biden made a highly secretive visit to Kyiv on Monday — his first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began nearly a year ago.
Biden, in his trademark aviator sunglasses, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in green military fatigues, walked side-by-side to a gold-domed cathedral on a bright winter morning pierced by the sound of air raid sirens.
“One year later, Kyiv stands and Ukraine stands. Democracy stands, Americans stand with you and the world stands with you” Biden said. “Kyiv has captured a part of my heart,” he added. Biden visited the Mariinsky Palace, where he made brief remarks alongside Zelenskyy.
The visit comes as the anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches on February 24. “When (Russian President Vladimir) Putin launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he could outlast us. But he was dead wrong,” Biden said.
“The cost that Ukraine has had to pay is extraordinarily high. Sacrifices have been far too great. … We know that there will be difficult days and weeks and years ahead.”
Biden joined Zelensky for a visit to St. Michael’s monastery in downtown Kyiv. The two leaders also walked along the Wall of Remembrance, where portraits are on display of more than 4,500 soldiers who have died since Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. Outside the cathedral, burnt-out Russian tanks stand as a symbol of Moscow’s failed assault on the capital.
“The first visit of the President of the United States to Ukraine in almost 15 years is the most important visit in the history of Ukrainian-American relations,” Zelenskyy posted on Telegram.
Additional support for Ukraine
In Kyiv, Biden announced an additional $500 million in U.S. assistance for shells for howitzers, anti-tank missiles, air surveillance radars. In January, Biden announced the U.S. would send 31 Abrams tanks, which he was initially reluctant to do. The U.S. will also provide training for the tanks. The total amount of American military assistance to Ukraine is nearing $30 billion.
Zelenskyy is pressing allies to speed up the delivery of promised weapon systems and calling on the West to provide fighter jets. So far, Biden has refused to send F-16 jets that might escalate the conflict.
Biden’s visit follows visits by other world leaders
The 80-year-old Biden crossed the border by train, traveling for nearly 10 hours to Kyiv since flying into a war zone is unsafe. The trip comes ahead of Biden’s planned two-day visit to Poland.
Biden’s trip to Ukraine for months comes after several of his counterparts in Europe all endured lengthy train journeys to meet with Zelensky in Kyiv. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as well as former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have all made visits to the country in a show of support for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy traveled to Washington in December 2022 to meet Biden in the Oval Office in his first trip outside Ukraine since the war began.
