Mike Wong
On February 20th, US President Joe Biden made his historic and surprise visit to Kyiv. Impact’s Mike Wong reports.
On February 20th, US President Joe Biden made a historic and surprise visit to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The visit was done in secret, but US Officials had notified the Russian Federation of President Biden’s visit to Ukraine, to avoid any Russian missile strikes in Kyiv taking out the US President as well as avoiding a direct military conflict between NATO and Russia.
Biden decalred: “The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.”
During the visit, Biden signed a 450-million-dollar military assistance package, which mostly included new ammunition, extra military equipment and more sanctions on Russia. Biden also visited the cemetery in Kyiv that honoured the country’s fallen soldiers and made a speech during a press conference with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the Ukrainian presidential palace where he declared: “One year later, Kyiv stands” and “Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.” Whilst spending more than 23 hours in Kyiv, he eventually left Kyiv, on the train back to Poland.
His visit reaffirmed continued US support for Ukraine for as long as necessary
The visit was symbolic, and whilst there were delays caused to other Ukrainians using the rail service, many Ukrainians were happy to see and hear the fact that the US President visited Ukraine. It was also historic as it became very clear that, as soon as the US President visited Ukraine his visit reaffirmed continued US support for Ukraine for as long as necessary.
Biden’s visit to Ukraine was considered daring as Ukraine is still being shelled and attacked. His visit triggered a harsh response from Putin. However, it remains to be seen whether Biden’s visit to Ukraine is really a sign of demonstrating Western Unity towards supporting Ukraine.
Featured image courtesy Yohan Marion of via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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