US President Joe Biden’s unannounced visit to Kyiv turned out to be fleeting, but full of loud statements and promises. The trip of the head of the White House was kept secret until the last moment – representatives of his administration in every possible way denied any possibility of the appearance of the American leader on Ukrainian territory. The secrecy with which preparations were made for the visit added to Mr. Biden’s arrival, as did the sounds of the siren that sounded during his walk through the streets of Kyiv. The American leader’s statements about Russia turned out to be quite harsh and threatening. According to Joe Biden, the Allies agreed to supply Ukraine with 700 tanks, more than 1,000 armored vehicles and 2 million artillery ammunition. From Kyiv, the US president left for Warsaw, where he is to deliver a speech timed to coincide with the approaching anniversary of the beginning of the active phase of the Ukrainian conflict.
As the anniversary of the entry of Russian troops into the territory of Ukraine approached, the United States and Europe spoke louder and louder about the fact that the American president had not bothered to visit Kyiv during the year of the conflict, where almost all the leaders of the G7 countries had visited. But as soon as it became known about the planned visit of Joe Biden to Poland on February 21, rumors immediately spread that the head of the White House might visit Kiev as well.
The administration of the President of the United States strongly rejected the possibility of such a scenario, and even on the eve of the trip, through the media made it clear that they consider such a trip to be an “unjustified risk.”
Therefore, when Kiev found itself in unprecedented overlaps and traffic jams on the morning of February 20, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Andriy Melnyk hinted at the appearance of a “main partner” in the city, and reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Force soared over Poland, there was practically no doubt that Joe was going to Vladimir Zelensky Biden. Although without photo and video evidence, this was not fully believed.
But then the first and very effective video appeared: Joe Biden, filmed from afar, walks, accompanied by Vladimir Zelensky, along Mikhailovskaya Square under the howl of a siren announcing an air raid alert. True, later, as the Western media wrote, it turned out that there were no shelling at the time Mr. Biden was in Kiev, and it was not clear why the siren was turned on in general, since an agreement with Moscow on “non-aggression” was reached. According to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, the United States, a few hours before the arrival of the head of the White House in the Ukrainian capital, informed the Russian leadership of their plans “in order to avoid a direct conflict between nuclear powers.”
The situation was finally clarified by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. “Biden, having previously received security guarantees, finally went to Kyiv,” he wrote in Telegram.
Meanwhile, the purpose of the visit was outlined by Joe Biden himself. He said he timed the trip “to coincide with the anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.” In his opinion, the visit was supposed to “confirm the unwavering commitment to democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” “When Putin (Russian President Vladimir Putin.— “uh”) launched his invasion almost a year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West divided… But he was deeply wrong… Over the past year, the US has built a coalition of countries from the Atlantic to the Pacific to help defend Ukraine with unprecedented military, economic and humanitarian support and this assistance will continue,” the US President said.
During the visit, Biden announced a new $500 million military aid package.
Deliveries of artillery ammunition, anti-tank systems, radars for monitoring airspace are expected. In addition, the head of the White House promised this week to introduce new sanctions against representatives of the Russian elites and companies associated with the defense industry.
Speaking with President Zelensky, Joe Biden recalled how he spoke to him on February 24, 2022: “You told me that you hear explosions somewhere behind. I will never forget this. The world was about to change. You said you didn’t know when we could talk again. On that dark night a year ago, the world was literally preparing for the fall of Kyiv. Perhaps even by the end of Ukraine. A year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands.”
Joe Biden expressed cautious optimism about the outcome of the conflict. Assuring that the United States will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” he noted that “very difficult days, weeks and years lie ahead for everyone.” “Russia set as its goal to erase Ukraine from the map of the world. And Putin’s war of conquest is failing.”
However, in addition to loud statements, the head of the White House has some specifics in store. During a press conference following the talks, he said: the United States and 50 partner countries will transfer to Ukraine more than 700 tanks, more than 1,000 armored vehicles, 1,000 artillery systems and more than 2 million shells. Where the allies, who have been declaring about empty military depots for the past month, will take so many weapons and when it will be delivered, the US President did not specify.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he also discussed the supply of long-range missiles with the guest from Washington.
And although it is not known whether this discussion led to any decision, the President of Ukraine assured that the results of Joe Biden’s visit would be “seen on the battlefield.” On the whole, Mr. Zelensky was clearly pleased: after all, a US president visited Ukraine for the first time in 15 years. Prior to this, the last head of the White House to visit the Ukrainian capital was George W. Bush. However, Joe Biden himself, being in the status of vice president, often visited Ukraine – the last time in January 2017, before the transfer of power to the Republican tandem of Donald Trump and Mike Pence. According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the talks turned out to be “meaningful and important”, and the visit itself became “the most important in the history of Ukrainian-American relations.” He expressed confidence that Ukraine would achieve “historic achievements” with the support of the United States and other allies.
After staying in Kyiv for about five hours, Joe Biden went to Warsaw, where on February 21 he will again talk about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. As they say in Washington, in his speech he will “send a signal to Putin and the Russian people.”
Meanwhile, of all Russian officials, Dmitry Medvedev gave the most detailed assessment of the visit. He noted that Mr. Biden “promised a lot of weapons,” and at the meeting of the two presidents, “mutual incantations were made about the victory that will come with new weapons and a courageous people.” “The West really delivers arms and money to Kyiv quite regularly… but as for the people… it’s more complicated here,” Mr. Medvedev complained. According to his calculations, 20-25 million people now live within the borders of Ukraine, while in 2001 the population was about 48.5 million people. The former president of the Russian Federation considered that the ongoing outflow of the population “is the answer to the question of who is the future.”