“One year later, Kiev is still standing.”
U.S. President, Joe Bidenannounced Monday during his surprise visit to Kiev 500 million in additional aid to Ukraine and advanced that this week he will announce more sanctions against Russia.
Biden made that announcement in remarks alongside his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymir Zelenskiat the Mariinsky Palace in Kiev.
The U.S. president explained that the new aid package will include. more military equipment, as well as artillery ammunition, howitzers and Javelin missiles.a portable weapon designed to destroy tanks and other heavy vehicles.
However, Biden did not announce the shipment to Ukraine of new military equipment, such as fighter planes. F-16which Zelenski claims to defend against Russia.
“A year later, Kiev is still standing. Ukraine is still standing and democracy is still standing.“, the US president proclaimed.
Biden said he did not want there to be any doubt about the “unwavering” support from the U.S. with Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity and that, for that reason, he had gone to Kiev this Monday.
Next to Biden, Zelenski thanked him for his presence in Kiev and explained that the two had talked “about long-range weapons and weapons that could still be supplied to Ukraine, but have not been supplied before,” without elaborating on exactly what kind of weaponry he was referring to.
The White House had not brought forward Biden’s visit to Kiev because of. security reasons and did not report it until it was already in progress.
This is the first time U.S. President visits Kiev since the beginning of the waralthough the first lady, Jill Bidenvisited the Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod, on the border with Slovakia, on May 8 last year, coinciding with the celebration of Mother’s Day in Ukraine.
Other world leaders had already visited Kiev over the past year to show solidarity with Ukraine. They include the president of France, Emmanuel Macron; German chancellor, Olaf Scholz; the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeauand the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez.
Biden is scheduled to begin a official visit to Poland to reaffirm its commitment to the countries on the eastern flank of the NATO.
