Joe Biden paid a surprise visit to kyiv on Monday, February 20, promising new weaponry and "unwavering" support for his Ukrainian ally, days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
As a precaution, Washington had warned Moscow "a few hours before" the departure of the American president for his first visit to the Ukrainian capital since the outbreak of the conflict - on February 24, 2022 - according to the national security adviser of the White House , Jake Sullivan. According to him, the visit "required additional logistical and operational security measures" through the echelons of the American state, to "bring [such] an operation to a level of manageable risk". “Of course it still exists (…) in a business like this, but President Biden felt it was important to make this trip happen,” the adviser stressed.
Planning for this visit took "several months", according to Jonathan Finer, the Deputy Senior National Security Adviser, "involving several White House offices, a small number of colleagues from the Pentagon, the Secret Service and the US community. Intelligence, who offered threat assessments during the visit".
Once there, Joe Biden announced that his country would once again increase its aid to Ukraine. "I will announce the delivery of other essential equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems and air surveillance radars," he said.
Equipment and ammunition
Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with his American counterpart the supply of long-range armaments, a "very important" topic because Ukraine needs such systems to strike Russian supply lines, oppose new offensives and to retake the territories occupied by Moscow in the east and south of its territory.
The Ukrainian leader welcomed the expected deliveries of American Abrams tanks, announced a few weeks ago after long procrastination and insisted on the needs of his army for artillery ammunition with a range of more than 100 kilometers. Washington has promised but their number and the timetable for their dispatch remain uncertain.
“This conversation [with Joe Biden] brings us closer to victory,” enthused Volodymyr Zelensky. This first visit to Kiev by a US president since 2008 follows the Ukrainian leader's visit to Washington in December 2022. The latter saw it as an "extremely important sign of support", noting that the two men wanted to discuss "how win [the war already] this year”.
According to him, US military aid to Ukraine demonstrates that Russia "has no chance of winning". Joe Biden, meanwhile, hammered that Russian President Vladimir Putin's "war of conquest" was "failing." "Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West divided," he noted, "he just got it all wrong."
The anti-aircraft alerts also sounded at a time when the American president was alongside his Ukrainian counterpart. They also gathered in front of a memorial dedicated to the soldiers killed since the beginning of the conflict.
"The Americans have irrevocably come over to our side"
Joe Biden expressed his admiration for the resilience of Ukrainians: "It's beyond heroic."
According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with his counterpart the possibility of sanctions against the Russian nuclear industry. Joe Biden raised the issues of anti-corruption, justice and corporate governance.
Ukrainians interviewed by Agence France-Presse on Monday were delighted with the presence of the American president in kyiv. Oksana Chylo, a 50-year-old unemployed woman, praised "total American support in this war". "It means they have clearly and irrevocably gone over to our side," she exclaimed.
Lyubov, a 66-year-old retiree, for her part, welcomed the new arms deliveries, "to stop the constant shelling". "We're tired of being constantly holed up in the subway, the kids are scared," she said.
"I thought it was essential that there be no doubt about US support for Ukraine," Joe Biden recalled.
Expected speech by Vladimir Putin
The American president then left the Ukrainian capital in the early afternoon and arrived in Poland in the evening, by train, at Przemysl station, the Polish agency PAP announced. He then flew to the Polish capital in a Presidency Boeing 757-200. He will meet on Tuesday in Warsaw with the Polish leaders, who are among the main European supporters of kyiv.
Vladimir Putin is due to deliver a major annual speech to his country's political elite on Tuesday, an event that should be largely devoted to the war in Ukraine.
The Russian offensive launched almost a year ago, which was to be lightning, quickly bogged down and, as early as the spring of 2022, Mr. Putin had to give up taking Kiev, withdrawing his forces from northern Ukraine. At the end of the summer, faced with a Ukrainian army reinforced by very significant Western military aid, the Russians had to abandon the North-East, then in November the city of Kherson in the South.
Since then, the front has been stable, even if the Russian forces have redoubled their efforts in eastern Ukraine, in particular to take the city of Bakhmout, now largely destroyed.
The Russian military has suffered heavy casualties, although these have not been officially acknowledged, and Moscow is now portraying the war as a Western-orchestrated proxy conflict against Russia.
