Under the strictest security precautions US President Joe Biden arrived in Ukraine on Monday for a visit. Before an announced visit to Poland, Biden arrived in the capital Kiev with his delegation in the morning. According to media reports (including the «New York Times») Biden is supposed to take a train several hours from the Polish border traveled to Kyiv.
The Visit was in several ways spectacular: He emphasizes how close the ties between Ukraine and the USA still are.
US President Joe Biden arrived in Ukraine on Monday under the strictest security measures.
Photo: Keystone, 20. January 2023
Biden met in the Ukrainian capital Wolodimir Selenski. The Presidents spoke to each other in the Marien-Palast. Zelensky praised Biden’s visit as an “extremely important sign of support for all Ukrainians”. “Joseph Biden, welcome to Kiev!”, Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel. And the President of Ukraine also said: “This conversation brings us closer to victory.”
Biden’s words in Kyiv towards Moscow
Biden praised the will of the people of Ukraine to defend themselves. «A year after Kiev stands. And Ukraine stands firm. Democracy stands firm.” According to US journalists who traveled with him, the US President added: “The Americans stand with you and the world stands with you.”
In a joint statement with Zelenski in the Marien-Palast, Biden also referred to the Russian President Wladimir Putin a. “Putin thought that Ukraine was weak and that the West had different opinions,” reported US reporters who had traveled with him. “He was just completely wrong. You can see the proof here in this room a year later. We stand together.”
Air alert in the city
Later thoughts the Presidents jointly of the Ukrainian fallen. When the two left a church in Kiev, they were in town Air alarm to hear AFP reporters reporting.
Videos from the visit show Zelensky and Biden walking through downtown Kiev, past St. Michael’s Monastery and its bell tower. On a special outer wall of the monastery the two presidents embrace – it is the so-called «Wall of Remembrance of Those Who Died for Ukraine», which since 2015 has been commemorating soldiers and volunteers who fell defending Ukraine.
Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff (AFP February 20, 2023)
Shortly before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, this was Biden’s first visit to Ukraine since the war began. For security reasons, the trip was long time kept as a secret.
More guns from the US
Biden promised Kyiv additional arms shipments. In addition, the US President assured the country of the country’s “unwavering” support in the war against Russia, as the White House announced on Monday in a statement on the visit. Biden said he would announce the delivery of more weapons, including Artilleriemunition, anti-tank systems and surveillance radars to protect the Ukrainian population against air raids.
The US President ended his surprising brief visit to Kiev in the early afternoon CET. Biden left the Ukrainian capital again, journalists traveling with him reported early Monday afternoon.
Numerous heads of state and government as well as ministers from other countries had already visited Ukraine in the past months since the beginning of the war – some several times. Government members from the USA were also there, as was Biden’s wife Jill. As president, Biden had never been to Ukraine before. For him, significantly higher ones generally apply security requirements.
High symbolic value
The fact that he is now planning his visit just before the first anniversary is highly symbolic – as a sign of support for the most important and powerful ally. In the past few months, the Americans had launched various packages of weapons and ammunition worth billions in rapid succession. According to the Pentagon, they have since the beginning of the war military aid in the amount of almost $30 billion provided or promised. This also includes various heavy weapon systems.
Biden and his government have pledged to support Ukraine in the long term – as long as it is necessary. The US government headquarters also issued this as the core message for Biden’s visit to Poland. Now he delivered them personally in Kiev.
Putin addresses the nation on Tuesday
Shortly before Christmas, Selenski made a surprising trip to Washington. But the current pictures from Kiev are also a sign to the outside world, especially in the direction of Moscow. There, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to address the people on Tuesday with a speech on the state of the nation.
After his visit to Kiev, he wants US President to a visit to Poland. On his agenda for Tuesday is a talk with Polish President Andrzej Duda. He also wants to give a speech. According to the White House, Biden also wants to meet the heads of state and government of several Central and Eastern European NATO members on Wednesday. (cpm/SDA/AFP)
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