Joe Biden paid a surprise visit to Kiev on Monday, promising new weaponry and “unwavering” support for his Ukrainian ally, before heading to Poland just days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
US President Joe Biden arrived by train Monday evening at Przemysl station in southeastern Poland from Ukraine, before boarding a plane for Warsaw.
He is due to meet Polish leaders, who are among kyiv’s main European supporters, in Warsaw on Tuesday and deliver a long-awaited speech.
“President Biden and I spoke today about everything we need to do in order to jointly win this year a victory in this war launched by Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address to the end of the visit.
As a precautionary measure, Washington had warned Moscow “a few hours before” of the departure of the American president for his first visit to the Ukrainian capital since the start of the February 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to the national security adviser of the White House, Jake Sullivan.
Once there, Mr. 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.
During a press briefing with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, he mentioned $500 million in additional assistance, the details of which will be announced in the coming days.
“I thought it was essential that there be no doubt about US support for Ukraine,” he said.
Ukraine has a crucial need for long-range ammunition and tanks to oppose a new Russian offensive and to retake the territories occupied by Moscow in the east and south of its territory.
Mr. Zelensky welcomed the expected deliveries of American Abrams tanks, announced a few weeks ago after long prevarications and insisted on the needs of his army for artillery ammunition with a range of more than 100 kilometers.
The Ukrainian head of state stressed that he had discussed long-range armaments with Mr Biden, a “very important” subject because Ukraine needs such systems to hit Russian supply lines.
“This conversation (with the American president) brings us closer to victory,” he said.
This first visit to kyiv by a US president to Ukraine since 2008 follows that of Mr. Zelensky to Washington in December.
The Ukrainian head of state saw it as an “extremely important sign of support”, noting that the two leaders wanted to discuss “how to win (the war from) this year”.
According to him, American 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.”
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 Ukrainian soldiers killed.
Joe Biden expressed his admiration for the resilience of Ukrainians: “It’s beyond heroic.”
Ukrainians interviewed by AFP 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 that the Americans have clearly and irrevocably come over to our side.”
Lyubov, a 66-year-old retiree, for her part welcomed the new arms deliveries, “so that the constant shelling stops”.
Vladimir Putin is also due to deliver a major annual speech to the Russian 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 northeast, then in November the city of Kherson in the south.
Since then, the front has been largely stable, although Russian forces have redoubled their efforts in eastern Ukraine, particularly with a view to taking the town of Bakhmout, which is now largely destroyed.
The Russian military has suffered heavy casualties, though these have not been officially acknowledged, and Moscow is now portraying the war as a Western-orchestrated proxy conflict against Russia.
20/02/2023 23:49:18 – Kiev (Ukraine) (AFP) © 2023 AFP
