Sunglasses on his nose, Joe Biden quietly leaves the Saint-Michel monastery in kyiv, accompanied by Volodymyr Zelensky. It is 11:30 a.m. (09:30 GMT) on Monday. Suddenly, anti-aircraft sirens sound in the Ukrainian capital.
Imperturbable, the American president and his Ukrainian counterpart then continue to discuss while walking, on the forecourt of the monastery with blue walls surmounted by several sparkling golden domes.
At a distance, around the two heads of state, neither the men in civilian clothes of Mr. Biden’s security service, nor the Ukrainian soldiers in fatigues, armed and helmeted, show signs of agitation, until the end of the alarm.
Anti-aircraft sirens are often triggered in the capital, which since October, like the rest of Ukraine, has regularly been the target of Russian strikes targeting energy infrastructure.
The wanderings of MM. Biden and Zelensky continued, under blue skies and bitter cold, to the outside of the monastery grounds, towards the “Wall in memory of the defenders of Ukraine fallen during the Ukraine-Russia war “.
Hundreds of photos of soldiers who have died since 2014, the year a conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in the east began, line the wall.
To the slow rhythm of a drum, four Ukrainian soldiers in ceremonial uniform laid two wreaths at the foot of the memorial, one with a ribbon in the colors of Ukraine, the other in those of the United States.
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky then gathered for a few minutes in front of the building while a bugler played the bell for the dead.
Mr. Biden, in a dark coat, and Mr. Zelensky, wearing a puffer jacket and khaki pants, then separated after giving each other a warm hug.
The President of the United States, who is due to visit Poland on Tuesday, arrived around 8 a.m. in kyiv for a surprise visit.
He first went to the Marynsky Palace where he was welcomed by President Zelensky. The two men then gave a joint press conference of about twenty minutes.
Mr. Biden left kyiv shortly after 2:00 p.m., after passing by the United States Embassy, ??the last leg of a visit that had been shrouded in the greatest secrecy.
For this head of state, probably surrounded by the strictest security system in the world, the White House had assured at the end of last week that there were no plans for an incursion into Ukraine, nor a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.
Very early Monday, the streets around the emblematic Maïdan square, in the center of the capital, and those near the Saint-Michel monastery had been closed to vehicle traffic.
Near this religious building, kept at a distance by a cordon of police, residents of kyiv were however able to see the American president. The news of his visit then spread like wildfire on social networks.
On these same networks, photomontages quickly appeared, representing Joe Biden in front of supermarkets and cafes in Kiev or playing chess in Chevchenko Park where enthusiasts, often elderly, meet regularly.
20/02/2023 17:25:27 – Kiev (Ukraine) (AFP) © 2023 AFP
