- Sarah Smith
- North America Editor
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv
It was a daring flight almost unheard of, for a President of the United States.
Appearing in a regularly battered war zone, White House officials described Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine as “unprecedented in modern times.”
They said previous presidential trips to Iraq and Afghanistan during times of war were backed by a large military presence.
Although there was speculation in the media about the possibility of Biden planning to visit Ukraine while he was in Poland, the visit surprised everyone.
His appearance alongside Ukraine’s President Zelensky in the heart of Kiev amid sirens sounding against raids makes his rhetoric stronger than anything he can say in Poland.
“It was a risk that should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that Joe Biden is a leader who takes his commitments seriously,” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said.
No phones
Biden was scheduled to travel from Washington to the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Monday evening, on a two-day trip.
In the advance schedule there were two suspiciously long gaps in his itinerary, and many wondered if it was related to his landing in Ukraine.
Reporters at the daily press conference at the White House asked repeatedly about the visit.
We are told there is no meeting with Zelensky and no plan to stop outside Warsaw “for now”.
He made the final decision to visit Kyiv only on Friday, though it had been planned for months with a group of the president’s top aides.
On Sunday, the official White House schedule showed that the president would take off for Warsaw at 7 p.m. local time Monday night. But in reality, Air Force One took off on Sunday morning at 4:15 local time.
On board the plane was a deliberately small team, including the president’s closest aides, medical staff and security officers.
Only two journalists were allowed to travel with the president. They had been sworn to secrecy, and he took their phones from them. They were not allowed to convey the news of the visit until Biden arrived in Kiev.
According to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Russia was informed of the visit a few hours before Biden’s plane took off.
Sullivan said the US “did it to avoid a collision… I’m not going to get into what their response was or what our specific message was, but I can confirm that we sent that notice.”
President Biden spent 10 hours on the train to get to Kiev. He could have visited other more accessible sites in Ukraine, but he wanted to pay a symbolic visit to Kiev in particular.
And while the president’s trip sends a signal to Moscow about the Biden administration’s commitment to helping Ukraine, it also serves as proof to voters in the United States.
The president’s press secretary, Karen Jean-Pierre, asked last week whether opinion polls showed slowing US support for Ukraine.
She replied that when the president speaks, he speaks to the American people and to people around the world as well. His latest message was designed to counter a minority of Republican votes asking how long the United States can support Ukraine.
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