Monitoring Desk
KYIV, UKRAINE: It was a daring trip almost unheard of for a United States president.
The White House officials described Joe Biden’s unexpected visit to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv as “unprecedented in modern times” as he appeared in a war zone under regular attack.
They said previous US presidential trips to wartime Afghanistan and Iraq had the back up of a heavy United States military presence. And despite widespread suppositions among the press corps that President Biden might be planning a trip to Ukraine while he was in Poland, the visit still took everyone completely by surprise, reported BBC News.
The sight of him appearing beside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the heart of Kyiv and under the sound of air raid sirens, makes a louder statement than anything he could say in a speech in Poland.
“It was risky and should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that Biden is a leader who takes commitment seriously,” according to Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director.
No phones
President Biden was scheduled to fly out from the United States to Warsaw/Poland on Monday evening, on a two days trip. The advance schedule had two doubtful lengthy gaps in his itinerary, and many wondered if that might be when he would slip into Ukraine.
Reporters have been repeatedly asking at the daily White House press briefings about a visit.
We were told that there was no meeting planned with President Zelensky and no stops planned outside Warsaw in Poland “right now”.
The ultimate decision to make the trip to Kyiv/Ukraine was only taken on Friday, even though it had been planned for months with a selective presidents’ top aides.
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The official White House schedule for Sunday still showed the US president taking off for Warsaw/Poland at 19:00 EST (00:00 GMT) Monday evening. In fact, ‘Air Force One’ took off at 04:15 EST Sunday morning. On board was a deliberately small team of President’s closest aides, security officers and a medical team. The world-famous call sign is used only when the president is on board.
Only two journos were allowed to travel with president Biden. They were sworn to secrecy and their mobile phones were taken away. They were not allowed to report about the visit until after president Biden had arrived in Kyiv.
US president spent 10 hours on a train
President Joe Biden then spent 10 hours on a train to get to Kyiv in Ukraine. He could have visited other areas inside Ukraine that would have been easier to get to, but he wanted to make the symbolic trip to the capital Kyiv itself.
While the US president’s trip is a signal to Moscow of the Joe Biden’s commitment to helping Ukraine, it is also a demonstration to United States voters back home.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the president’s press secretary, was asked last week about the polls showing American support for Ukraine softening. She, however, answered that whenever the president speaks, he is talking to the American people as well as people around the globe. Message in Monday’s visit is designed to counter the minority of Republican voices who question for how long the United States could continue supporting Ukraine.
