'Ukraine stands. Democracy stands': Joe Biden's surprise visit to Kyiv ahead of Ukraine war anniversary

There was speculation in official circles in Kyiv of a special guest's arrival but the visit was not officially announced until Biden landed in Kyiv. The US President was travelling to Poland to meet President Andrzej Duda when he decide to stop in Kyiv as well.

Kyiv (Ukraine):US President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday where he met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a gesture of solidarity that comes days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

"One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands," news agency AP quoted Biden saying. The US President delivered remarks and met with Zelensky at Mariinsky Palace to announce an additional half billion dollars in US assistance and to reassure Ukraine of American and allied support as the conflict continues.

This is Biden's first visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began a year ago. Earlier in the day, there was speculation in official circles in Kyiv of a special guest's arrival but the visit was not officially announced until Biden landed in Kyiv. The US President was travelling to Poland to meet President Andrzej Duda when he decide to stop in Kyiv as well.

The Ukraine visit comes at a crucial moment in the war as Biden looks to keep allies unified in their support for Ukraine as the war is expected to intensify with both sides preparing for spring offensives. Zelenskyy is pressing allies to speed up the delivery of pledged weapon systems and is calling on the West to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine — something that Biden to date has declined to do.

Biden’s mission with his visit to Kyiv — and then Warsaw — is to underscore that the United States is prepared to stick with Ukraine “as long as it takes” to repel Russian forces even as public opinion polling suggests that U.S. and allied support for providing weaponry and direct economic assistance has started to soften. For Zelenskyy, the symbolism of having the U.S. president stand side by side with him on Ukrainian land as the anniversary nears is no small thing as he prods the U.S. and European allies to provide more advanced weaponry and to step up the pace of delivery.

The visit also gives Biden an opportunity to get a firsthand look at the devastation the Russian invasion has caused on Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainian troops and civilians have been killed, millions of refugees have fled the war, and Ukraine has suffered tens of billions of dollars of infrastructure damage.

The trip also marks an act of defiance against Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had hoped his military would swiftly overrun Kyiv within days. A year later, the Ukrainian capital stands and a semblance of normalcy has returned to the city as the fighting has concentrated in the country’s east, punctuated by cruise missile and drone attacks against military and civilian infrastructure.

Biden also got a short first-hand taste of the terror that Ukrainians have lived with for close to a year, as air raids sirens howled over the capital just as he and Zelenskyy were exiting a cathedral they visited together. Looking solemn, they continued unperturbed to stand in front of a wall honoring Ukrainian soldiers killed since 2014.

The Ukraine war has been a major indicator of the ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and the NATO countries. What began as an ambitious plan by Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine in a matter of weeks exposed his military tactics as well as his understanding of the situation on the ground so much so that the war has completed a year with Russia remaining on the back foot. (With inputs from AP)