White House officials hailed Joe Biden’s unannounced visit to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv as “unique in modern times,” despite his presence in a combat zone under constant attack. Previous presidential excursions to war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan, they add, were backed up by a large US military presence.
Despite widespread suspicion among the press corps that Mr. Biden was planning a trip to Ukraine while in Poland, the visit caught everyone off guard. The spectacle of him appearing alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky in the heart of Kyiv, amid air raid sirens, speaks louder than anything he can say in a speech in Poland.
“It was risky and should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that Joe Biden is a leader who takes commitment seriously,” said White House communications director Kate Bedingfield.
No phones for the purpose of Secrecy
Biden was supposed to fly from the United States to Warsaw on Monday evening for a two-day trip.
The advance timetable showed two unusually long gaps in his route, and many speculated that this was when he would sneak into Ukraine.
At the daily White House press briefings, reporters have regularly inquired about a visit. We were told that there was no meeting scheduled with Mr. Zelensky and no stops planned outside Warsaw “just now”.
Even though the trip to Kyiv had been planned for months with a few of the president’s closest advisors, the final decision was made only on Friday.
On Sunday, the president’s official schedule still showed him leaving for Warsaw at 19:00 EST (00:00 GMT) on Monday evening. In fact, Air Force One took off at 04:15 a.m. EDT on Sunday.
A small team of his closest aides, a medical staff, and security officials were on board.
Only two journalists were permitted to accompany the president. They were sworn to silence and had their cell phones confiscated. They were not permitted to report the visit until President Biden arrived in Kyiv.
According to US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Russia was informed of the trip a few hours before Mr. Biden’s departure.
He said the US “did so for deconfliction purposes… I won’t get into how they responded or what the precise nature of our message was, but I can confirm we provided that notice”.
Well-communicated message back home
President Biden then traveled for ten hours by train to Kyiv. He could have gone to other places in Ukraine that were simpler to get to, but he wanted to make the symbolic trip to Kyiv itself.
While the president’s trip sends a message to Moscow about the Biden administration’s commitment to assisting Ukraine, it also sends a message to US voters back home.
His press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, was asked last week about surveys showing a decline in US support for Ukraine.
She said that whenever the president talks, he is speaking to both the American people and people all over the world. Monday’s message is intended to sharply contrast with the handful of Republican voices who wonder how long the US can continue to support Ukraine.
However, the unexpected visit has left reporters like me, who thought they were traveling with Mr. Biden later on Monday, flying to Poland on a plane that will not be designated Air Force One.
When the president is on board, the world-famous call sign is utilized.