Joe Biden

Our North America editor on how Joe Biden's audacious trip to Kyiv was kept a secret.

Monday's message is designed to vividly counter the minority of Republican voices who question for how long the US can continue supporting Ukraine. President Biden then spent 10 hours on a train to get to Kyiv. He said the US "did so for deconfliction purposes… Only two journalists were allowed to travel with the president. They were sworn to secrecy and had their mobile phones taken away from them. In fact, Air Force One took off at 04:15 EST on Sunday morning.

The US president met Volodymyr Zelensky and told him America would back Ukraine for 'as long as it takes'

“Casualties reportedly remain high, particularly in Bakhmut and Vuhledar. They also believe that “tensions” within the Russian leadership will rise if Putin’s spring offensive fails. British defence chiefs said that two “elite” Russian naval brigades had suffered very high losses after Putin ordered a wave of advances. Ukrainian forces are believed to have also suffered high casualty figures, with more than 40,000 civilians reportedly killed, often by indiscriminate Russian shelling and air strikes. He added: “Putin’s war of conquest is failing.” Democracy stands.”

He had been under pressure to make his first visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded, given several European leaders had already made trips early in the war.

But he was dead wrong. President Biden had been under pressure to make his first visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded a year ago, given several European heads of state had already made visits early in the war. Mr Biden tweeted to reiterate his country's support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia, after his visit was made public. [Ukraine](/news/topic/ukraine) for a surprise visit to the war-torn nation - his first since [Russia](/news/topic/russia) invaded. While the UK is continuing to reject Mr Zelenskyy's pleas for fighter jets, his speech to Parliament appears to have sparked a shifting of position. Mr Biden is the latest Western leader to make a war-time visit to the capital, following Labour's

Biden's visit comes ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's war against Ukraine.

And Ukraine stands. [Putin](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/vladimir-putin) launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. “One year later, Kyiv stands. “He thought he could outlast us. [according to The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/us/politics/biden-ukraine-visit.html). [President Joe Biden](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/joe-biden) on Monday made an unannounced visit to Kyiv and met with [Ukrainian](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/ukraine) President [Volodymyr Zelenskyy](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/volodymyr-zelenskyy), ahead of the one-year anniversary of [Russia’s](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/russia) war against Ukraine later this week.

As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, I am in Kyiv today to meet with President Zelenskyy and ...

Over the last year, the United States has built a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific to help defend Ukraine with unprecedented military, economic, and humanitarian support – and that support will endure. I will announce another delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments. And I will share that later this week, we will announce additional sanctions against elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine.

The White House notified the Kremlin of President Joe Biden's intention to visit Kyiv hours before he departed for Ukraine, as the details began to emerge of ...

The go-ahead for the trip was given only on Friday, according to White House officials, after receipt of a final security briefing. “He got a full presentation of a very good and very effective operational security plan. That, White House officials are saying, is the distinction between this trip and previous presidential visits to Afghanistan and Iraq. “We did notify the Russians that President Biden will be travelling to Kyiv,” Sullivan said. In the end, however, Biden was insistent that he should visit the Ukrainian capital, which became a symbol of resistance to the invasion during the battle of Kyiv in the early weeks of the war, when Russia tried to take the city. “But of course, there was still risk and is still risk in an endeavour like this, and President Biden felt that it was important to make this trip because of the critical juncture that we find ourselves at as we approach the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

US president makes first trip to Ukraine ahead of 1-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.

“This visit is a victory for the Ukrainian people and President Zelenskyy. Biden is expected to travel to Warsaw next, where he’s set to deliver a speech Tuesday to celebrate Ukraine’s ability to withstand the attack from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces. Reports about a possible visit by the American president ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion began circulating earlier in the day, as U.S. “Because as the president remember, I was warning the world that Putin was going to attack.” “I hope that the surprise that is being prepared will be successful. military jets were seen circling near the Polish border and Kyiv residents posted videos on social media of lockdowns in the city center and near the U.S. Hours in advance of the trip, U.S. “Together with more than 50 partner countries, we have approved more than 700 tanks and thousands of armored vehicles,” the U.S. He posted a photo to social media of the pair standing in front of Ukrainian and American flags. officials had expressed concerns that Biden couldn’t fly into Ukraine or take a ten-hour train ride without immense risk to the host nation or himself. Biden also said partners have approved the transfer of 700 tanks and thousands of armored vehicles to Ukraine. Sullivan said Biden met with Zelenskyy one-on-one after an initial greeting and met with the Ukrainian leader’s top aides.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says negotiations between the pair have been "very fruitful" as the US President says Washington would provide Kyiv with a new military ...

After a refuelling stop in Germany, Mr Biden’s aircraft switched off its transponder for the roughly hour-long flight to Rzeszow, Poland. Only two journalists were invited on board instead of the usual complement of 13. "We did so some hours before his departure for deconfliction purposes. US surveillance planes kept watch over Kyiv from Polish airspace. Mr Biden's trip comes as Ukrainian and Russian forces continue to fight for control of the eastern city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. "Good morning, Mr President" was the greeting in English given by Mr Zelenskyy as Mr Biden emerged from a motorcade of vehicles that brought him to the capital in secrecy and under an unprecedented security lockdown. Mr Biden wanted to make clear in his words and pledges, including new weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, that the United States would support Kyiv "for as long as it takes". History was made in Kyiv today with the first visit to Ukraine by Joe Biden almost one year on from a Russian invasion that was designed to topple the government. In December, Mr Zelenskyy visited President Biden at the White House on his first trip out of Ukraine since the war began. Mr Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin thought Ukraine was "weak and the West was divided" and "thought he could outlast us" but added - "he was dead wrong". In a statement from the White House, the president said his visit to Kyiv would "reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity". Mr Biden was secreted aboard the Air Force jet, the call sign "SAM060" for Special Air Mission, was used for the plane instead of the usual "Air Force One".

President of the United States took 10 hours to reach the capital Kiev and meet Zelensky. Several military aircraft were deployed in the region to monitor ...

The information was possibly obtained by the US surveillance scheme and passed on to the government of Ukraine. For security reasons, the travel itinerary was only partially revealed after Biden returned from the country. The historic visit of a US president to a country at war is unique in that it does not involve the US military in action, as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also in today's newsletter, a 6.4 magnitude tremor hits Turkey and China's top diplomat to meet Russian officials.

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His commitment to Ukraine is the main reason the country is still fighting | Europe.

Mr Biden’s commitment to Ukraine is one of the main reasons the country is still fighting. The Ukrainian hope is that the visit will have bound Mr Biden more emotionally to their cause. The Ukrainian president added that his country continues to experience a “difficult period”, taking serious losses as it defends its frontlines in the east, around the town of Bakhmut. Many in Kyiv have been concerned by the reports that China is seeking to broker a peace deal. For at least a fortnight rumours have swirled around Kyiv that the leader of the free world might extend a planned trip to Poland to Ukraine, too. And it offered Mr Biden an opportunity to experience the war first hand, as he walked around central Kyiv amid the wailing of air raid sirens.

He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the pair visited a memorial to soldiers who have died in the nine years since Russia annexed Crimea and its ...

"I appreciate his courage, that he took on this challenge and came to show the support of the American nation." In a scene that added drama to the most high-profile visit to Ukraine since the war began, air raid sirens wailed while President Biden and Mr Zelensky were in St Michael's Cathedral in central Kyiv. Mr Zelensky has repeatedly called for F-16 fighter jets, something the is being decided," he said. "It is now and in Ukraine that the fate of the world order, which is based on rules, on humanity... The US will back Ukraine in its fight against Russia for "as long as it takes", US President Joe Biden has said on an unannounced visit to Kyiv.

Mr Biden is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and deliver an address from the gardens of Warsaw's Royal Castle.

With no end in sight for the war, the anniversary is a critical moment for Mr Biden to try to bolster European unity and reiterate that Mr Putin’s invasion was a frontal attack on the post-Second World War international order. Mr Zelensky has been pushing the US and European allies to provide fighter jets and long-range missile systems known as ATACMS — which Mr Biden has declined to provide so far. Mr Biden is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and deliver an address from the gardens of Warsaw’s Royal Castle on Tuesday, where he is expected to highlight the commitment of the central European country and other allies to Ukraine over the past year.

The US president is expected to try and shore up support for Kyiv during his speech in Poland later.

In his speech a stone's throw from the Kremlin, President Putin again blamed the West for Russia's invasion, complaining of Western hypocrisy and of withdrawing from "fundamental agreements". US President Joe Biden is expected to lay out his view of the war in Ukraine as a battle for democracy during a speech later on Tuesday. In Warsaw, the US president is expected to stress the vital role the United States has played in galvanising Western backing for Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Biden's 'inherently risky' trip to Ukraine took planning and logistics with details known to only a few.

[trip to Kyiv](/news/2023/2/20/us-president-joe-biden-makes-unannounced-visit-to-ukraines-kyiv) for a year, and the president made the final decision to go on Friday. That did not change at the airport or when they got into a motorcade of SUVs. Most of the people on board, Siddiqui said, were “heavy security”. They flew for about seven hours from Washington to the US military base in Ramstein, Germany, for refuelling. The next flight was to Poland, landing in Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport. And a telling detail: The shade on every window had been pulled down.

Joe Biden has long been known to Congress by the affectionate nickname “Amtrak Joe” for his habit of commuting to his office in Washington DC from his home ...

Also taking in a walking tour of St Michael’s Cathedral and a visit to the US embassy, Mr Biden’s trip ended as it had begun, with a return trip to Poland on the same train he had arrived in. The train arrived at at approximately 8am local time at Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky station, where Mr Biden was met by Bridget Brink, US ambassador to Ukraine, among others, before returning to his motorcade to make the short journey to the Mariinsky Palace for his historic meeting with Mr Zelensky, Mr Biden pledged an additional $500m in military aid and taunted Mr Putin by saying he had been “dead wrong” to assume he could conquer Ukraine without a fight. [Poland](/topic/poland) in order to arrive in [Ukraine](/topic/ukraine) on Monday morning for his surprise visit with [Volodymyr Zelensky](/topic/volodymyr-zelensky), an important gesture of solidarity as the one-year anniversary of [Vladimir Putin](/topic/vladimir-putin)’s invasion approaches. [originally intended to deliver tourists to Crimea](https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-train/31801472.html) in the south of the country before being repurposed in the aftermath of Russia’s annexation of the region in spring 2014 in retaliation for the ousting of Moscow-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych in the Maidan protests. [8,000 journeys back and forth along the same route](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/07/politics/biden-amtrak/index.html) over the course of a lengthy career in the Senate, according to CNN, a practice he began to ensure he made it home every evening to say good night to his young sons Beau and Hunter in the aftermath of the tragic death of their mother Neilia, Mr Biden’s first wife, in a car accident just before Christmas 1972. [Joe Sommerlad](/author/joe-sommerlad) Comments [Joe Biden](/topic/joe-biden) has long been known to Congress by the affectionate nickname “Amtrak Joe” for his habit of commuting to his office in Washington DC from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, by train.

Mr Biden is visiting Warsaw on Tuesday to deliver a significant speech underscoring the commitment of the US and Nato allies to the war in Ukraine.

He added: "When [Russian President Vladimir] Putin launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. "I am thankful to the US for standing with Ukraine and for our strong partnership. "It is no secret that we will talk about increasing the presence, also in terms of infrastructure, of nato."

Nato's support for Kyiv 'will not waver', US President tells crowds in Warsaw ahead of first anniversary of conflict.

“We have to have security in Europe,” Biden said at the presidential palace in Warsaw. “The principles which have been the cornerstone of peace, prosperity and stability on this planet for more than 75 years risked being shattered. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday’s speech would be “vintage Joe Biden” and that the Democratic president would lay out that the action democracies take in the coming years will have reverberations for years to come. And most importantly it stands free.” Earlier, Biden described NATO as “maybe the most consequential alliance in history”, and he said it’s “stronger than it’s ever been” despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes that it would fracture over the war in Ukraine. Addressing the people of Russia directly, Biden says the West was not plotting to attack Russia and that the war was never a necessity, but it is a tragedy.

His speech came a day after his unannounced trip to Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Kyiv stands strong,” Mr Biden declared. “Kyiv ...

“We have to have security in Europe,” Mr Biden said at the presidential palace. No, you will not take my future.” He was wrong,” Mr Biden said. No, you will not take my freedom. “No, you will not take my country. Kyiv stands proud.