Bidens first time to the country as president underscores American support for President Volodymyr Zelensky and his war efforts against Russia
President Joe Biden arrived in Ukraines capital city of Kyiv on Monday in an early morning surprise visit to underscore American support for President Volodymyr Zelensky and his war efforts against Russia. Shrouded in secrecy, and coming days before the first anniversary of Russias invasion, the trip marks the first time Biden has traveled to Ukraine as president.
One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands, Biden said. Armed with billions of dollars worth of weapons from Western countries, and in desperate need for more, Ukraine has fought the Russians to a bloody standstill. Despite American sanctions and the devastating battlefield losses of people and equipment, Moscow continues its assault on Ukrainian defenses. Jake Sullivan, the presidents national security adviser, told reporters that the White House alerted Russian officials to Bidens trip to Kyiv several hours before he arrived for deconfliction purposes. Multiple government agencies and officials in the U.S. and Ukraine did not immediately respond to Rolling Stones inquiries about Bidens trip. A senior White House official and a U.S. government official with knowledge of the trip confirmed the visit on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Despite claims from the White House for Biden having no plans to cross into Ukraine during his trip to Poland, plans to cross the Polish-Ukraine border began more than a month ago, after Biden told staffers he wanted a public display to show solidarity between the United States and embattled Ukraine as it enters its second year of war. Politically, this trip needed to happen, a senior White House official tells Rolling Stone. Over the past year, First Lady Jill Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and others in the U.S. government have made the trip to the war-torn country while the president himself had not until now. On Monday, however, Biden strolled the streets of downtown Kyiv, with Zelensky at his side, and announced additional weapons deliveries. When 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 in a statement. Biden was presented with an array of plans for this Ukraine trip, says the senior White House official with direct knowledge of the matter. The official was not authorized to speak on the record. One idea called for a meeting between Biden and Zelensky at an undisclosed location at the Polish-Ukrainian border. Another sought to hold the meeting in Lviv, a Western Ukrainian city that has been hit by Russian airstrikes several times since the war began but remains relatively safe when compared to the heavy fighting on the Eastern front. Given the obvious fact that Ukraine is an active battlefield, both the Secret Service and the Defense Department had security objections to some of the plans presented. The Secret Service did not respond to Rolling Stones requests for comment, and the Defense Department referred questions to the White House.
The United States gave a heads up to Moscow hours ahead of President Joe Bidens risky surprise trip to Kyiv on Monday to avoid any chance of conflict, a senior White House aide said.
We did notify the Russians that President Biden will be traveling to Kyiv. We did so some hours before his departure for deconfliction purposes, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who accompanied the president on the trip, told reporters. Because of the sensitive nature of those communications, I wont get into how they responded or what the precise nature of our message was, he continued. Biden arrived in Kyiv on Monday, making an extraordinary first visit to the country since Russian troops invaded on February 24, 2022. The visit was organized in conditions of strict secrecy. Biden left Andrews Air Force Base in the early hours of Sunday. However, White House staff said they cannot yet divulge how Biden got to the embattled Ukrainian capital. We are holding back on some of those mode of transportation details and other specific logistical details until the trip is fully complete, communications director Kate Bedingfield said. Sullivan said the trip required a security operational and logistical effort from professionals across the US government to take what was an inherently risky undertaking and make it a manageable level of risk. Of course, there was still risk and is still risk in an endeavor like this and President Biden felt that it was important to make this trip. Only two journalists were allowed to accompany the president.