While Putin is not seen near the front, the US President takes the train to Kiev, the war zone. It is a clear signal to Russia with great symbolic power.
Huge morning traffic jams were part of everyday life for people in Kiev before February 24, 2022. Today, they hardly exist anymore, although around three million people are said to be staying in the Ukrainian capital again, despite drone and rocket attacks. Until this morning, when it felt like half of the city was standing still. Videos of a large convoy of cars driving through Kiev quickly circulated on the Internet. It was also noticeable that the area around the US embassy was also closed to traffic.
Whether Boris Johnson, Olaf Scholz or Ursula von der Leyen: the life of an average Kiev resident is not normally particularly affected by such foreign visitors. It was different this time. It was therefore clear to the Ukrainians early on that something special was happening, that US President Joe Biden was probably visiting Ukraine. The visit was not announced for security reasons. The date was nevertheless close: Biden is expected in Warsaw tomorrow, Tuesday. There was hardly any criticism of the traffic situation in Kiev: “If Biden really comes, you can sometimes get stuck in traffic,” it said on social media.
Biden promised Ukraine a new military aid package and announced new sanctions against Russia. However, the most important things usually happen in the background during such visits. The December trip to Washington by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky set processes in motion that led to the delivery of armored personnel carriers and battle tanks. However, the symbolic power of the Biden visit is so huge that it goes far beyond concrete announcements. “It’s presumptuous of me to say this,” Biden flirtated, “but I felt it was important that the President of the United States be here on the anniversary of the attack.” There should be “no doubt about US support for Ukraine in the war,” Biden said.
On the one hand, it is about sending a clear signal to the Russian President, who will also give a public speech this Tuesday and will most likely appear at a pro-war concert. According to the Russian constitution, Putin should have given his annual parliamentary speech in 2022. But last year there was neither the speech nor the traditional big press conference. He is obviously uncomfortable not being able to show any real victories for his “special operation”. Even the heavily contested city of Bakhmut in the Donbass has not yet fallen.
But with the anniversary of the great Russian invasion of Ukraine approaching, Putin must fulfill his constitutional obligation with a speech to the State Duma and the Federation Council. As always before a Putin appearance, there is endless speculation about whether he will call the war “war” or announce a new wave of mobilization. Most of these speculations are pointless: as the past year of war has shown, the Russian president can announce something like this at any time, he doesn’t need a big speech for it. Nevertheless, there is speculation. Also about new waves of attacks: It is considered likely that a new large missile attack on Ukraine could take place around February 24th.
But all of that is eclipsed by Biden’s trip to Kiev and Warsaw. While Putin doesn’t dare go near the front lines and rarely meets people anymore, the US President travels to the capital of a country that is in the middle of a war. Biden experienced an air alert in Kiev that was anything but a show. Russian MiG-31 interceptors capable of carrying Kinzhal-class hypersonic missiles, against which the Ukrainian air defense is currently helpless, were in fact in the air in Belarus. Rarely does anything happen with air raids of this kind, because Russia is unlikely to have very many kinshawls left. However, a rocket of this type hit Kiev a few weeks ago.
Second, it sends a clear message to US and Ukraine allies: countries like Germany are watching closely how Washington is exercising its leadership role in supporting Kiev in detail. Above all, however, it is about the enormously important encouragement of the Ukrainian population. She really appreciates that Biden is visiting Kiev on the day of remembrance of the victims of the Maidan revolution. More than a hundred people died in the protests in winter 2013/14. Every year on February 20, the “Heavenly Hundred” is commemorated.
And, of course, it is also significant for Ukrainians that a US President takes a ten-hour train ride to meet their head of state. Not least because of this, memes are making the rounds on the Ukrainian Internet, in which Biden can be seen in front of funny Kiev cult places, comparable to the legendary Berlin snack bar “Curry 36”.
As US Vice President, Joe Biden has been to Ukraine several times. He’s always been popular in Kyiv, but it’s not as if Ukrainians didn’t previously have questions about his administration or the US in general. From the Ukrainian point of view, his soft position on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline often caused a lack of understanding in this country. But these days, weeks and months, the Ukrainians know very well: without the USA and without Biden personally, Ukraine might not exist today. The emotional reaction of the Ukrainians to his historic visit is all the more understandable. Biden is someone who will be remembered for a long time in Ukraine.
