US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kiev on Monday, February 20, ahead of his trip to Poland, where he is expected on Tuesday to reaffirm his determination to support Ukraine and defend the countries on the eastern flank of Europe in the event of Russian aggression.
The president said the United States would stand with Ukraine "as long as necessary" and announced new sanctions against Russia. The president announced an additional $500 million in aid, details of which will be released in the coming days. This aid will also include more military equipment, including artillery, javelin and howitzer ammunition. This visit is an "extremely important sign of support", said Volodymyr Zelensky.
This trip to a country at war, unprecedented for an American president, had been denied the day before by the White House, no doubt for security reasons. On Monday morning, part of the Ukrainian capital had been cut off from traffic and three American surveillance planes were crisscrossing the sky at the Polish border, a sign of an exceptional event.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also canceled a trip to Brussels scheduled for Monday at the last minute. The last visit of an American president to Ukraine dates back to Richard Nixon in 1972.
