Even the weather cooperated with Joe Biden when he visited Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The sun was shining, he was received by the Ukrainian presidential couple and took a short walk in the streets of Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelenskyj. They also visited the famous St. Michael’s Abbey with its golden domes and blue walls. For a country at war against the great power in the east, it must have warmed as much as the winter sun to have such a visit from the superpower in the west. And who, if anyone, would have predicted that a year ago when Russian tanks rolled into the capital? The mere fact that they have persevered and today were able to receive the American president like gentlemen in their own capital is a Ukrainian victory. The timing of the visit is not accidental. It comes just before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion and the day before Vladimir Putin is due to address the Russian people. It also happens in parallel with the USA’s relationship with China being tense, even after a meeting between Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart during the security conference in Munich. There it was said from the American side that China is considering exporting weapons to Russia. Should that happen, both the war in Ukraine and the bloc formations in the world will intensify considerably. Then there will be China and Russia on one side and the West and Ukraine on the other. The visit to Kyiv therefore has a clear message to both Putin and Xi Jinping: the United States, and with it the West, have no plans to give up. And they think long term. There are perhaps less political disagreements at home, but this is a strategically important area for us as well. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj received Joe Biden together with his spouse Olena Zelenska in front of the presidential palace in Kyiv. Photo: Evan Vucci / AP Joe Biden is not the first Western head of state to visit Ukraine. Both Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and Jonas Gahr Støre came before him, but Biden is the most powerful. It is nevertheless interesting to note that Western heads of state have visited Kyiv. NATO’s otherwise active Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, has stayed away. The reason is that the heads of state’s visit signals a willingness to cooperate with and support Ukraine from one country to another. A visit from Stoltenberg, on the other hand, would have said something about a possible Ukrainian membership in NATO, and thus a direct confrontation with the Russian forces. Nevertheless, when Biden has now been to Kyiv, he indirectly says that they cannot let the city fall, that it will also be an American defeat. It was therefore a highly unusual visit, which was kept well hidden until the morning hours today. Biden arrived as his European counterparts have before him, by train. We are otherwise used to seeing American presidents walk down the stairs from the huge American presidential plane. The chance that a missile, either wayward or intended, would hit the plane was clearly considered so great that Biden had to travel along land. The consequences of a US presidential plane being shot down would be catastrophic. There was also a different security arrangement. When Biden’s predecessors have been in cities like Kabul or Baghdad, large American military forces have prepared the ground and looked after. This time they had to do without US Army logistics in a war zone. It is not everyday to see an American president in a city where the anti-aircraft siren is going off, and there were probably many who breathed a sigh of relief when Biden and his entourage got out of the country safely. The visit leaves behind no theatrical moments. Similar to what former President Ronald Reagan created in his speech in the then-divided city of Berlin at the end of the Cold War. Addressing Moscow and then-leader Mikhail Gorbachev, he said: “Tear down that wall!” Biden in Kyiv was more about the photos, as if the presence itself was dramatic enough. It may be that more exciting things were said behind closed doors, but perhaps Ukraine did not need dramatic gestures or big words, but rather what they got: A quiet and symbolic signal of long-term support. President Joe Biden signs agreement on arms support with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj as a witness. Photo: UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER / Reuters
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Joe Biden came to Kyiv with a clear message to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping – Statement
