Just days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the President of the United States made a surprise, historic visit to the capital of the war-torn nation to, in the President’s own words, “reaffirm [America’s] unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
Biden departed from Joint Base Andrews at 4:15 a.m. on Sunday, stopping at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and arrived in Kyiv at 8 a.m. on Monday after a nearly 10-hour train ride from the Polish border. He stayed in Kyiv for about five hours, departing Kyiv after 1 p.m. on Monday, Kyiv time, on a similar train trip back to Poland.
Biden traveled to Kyiv under a cloak of secrecy and security. Security that included, according to the Associated Press, “U.S. surveillance planes, including E-3 Sentry airborne radar and an electronic RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft…keeping watch over Kyiv from Polish airspace.”
The following is the full text of President Biden’s remarks in Kyiv.
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 reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
When Putin launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he could outlast us. But he was dead wrong.
Today, in Kyiv, I am meeting with President Zelenskyy and his team for an extended discussion on our support for Ukraine. 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.
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 also look forward to traveling on to Poland to meet President Duda and the leaders of our Eastern Flank Allies, as well as deliver remarks on how the United States will continue to rally the world to support the people of Ukraine and the core values of human rights and dignity in the UN Charter that unite us worldwide.
