President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday in the midst of a war started by Russia. The Russian invasion that began a year ago has been an embarrassment for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukraine Royal Palace.
While Biden didn't have a moment like Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," the visit itself is seen as a statement.
Biden spoke with Zelenskyy to express the West's solidarity with the people of Ukraine. In a video that has gone viral on social media, the men are shown walking side by side outside the Royal Palace as air raid sirens sound, warning residents of a potential Russian attack.
The Russian government was told of Biden’s visit a few hours before it happened as a calculated gamble that Putin wouldn’t add presidential assassination to his list of crimes in Ukraine.
Other than the Ukrainians and the Russians, almost no one around the world knew that Biden would be spending his President’s Day in Kyiv in the middle of a war zone.
In recent weeks, the West, led by the United States, has been doubling down on their commitment to the Ukrainian people against Russian forces. Many commentators have pointed out that Biden has cut Russian military readiness in half without endangering a single American life.
While no specific promises for assistance came from this meeting, the American government has been providing the Ukrainians with weapons, training, and access to information on a large scale since Russia started their full-scale assault last spring.
Bob Peryea
National Correspondent
The Kentucky Daily