U.S. President Joe Biden on Feb. 16, 2023.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine Monday in a show of solidarity, nearly a 12 months after Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country.
“Joseph Biden, welcome to Kyiv! Your visit is a particularly vital sign of support for all Ukrainians,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram on Monday.
Biden said in a White House statement that he was meeting with Zelenskyy to “reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
“I’ll announce one other delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars to assist protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments,” he added. “And I’ll share that later this week, we’ll announce additional sanctions against elites and firms which can be attempting to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine.”
The visit comes after a concerted show of international support from global leaders and politicians through the Munich Security Conference over recent days.
On Feb. 18, Biden’s second-in-command, Vice President Kamala Harris, announced that Washington had determined that Russia had committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, upgrading the U.S. administration’s March pronouncement that Moscow had committed war crimes.
Biden said Monday he’ll proceed on to Poland, where he’ll meet President Andrzej Duda.
The newest round of U.S. sanctions will follow the EU’s tenth round of penalties against Russia for its war in Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week that the sanctions will goal exports price 11 billion euros ($11.78 billion), dual use and advanced tech goods, in addition to Russian propagandists. The newest EU package is subject to the approval of EU member countries.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday expressed doubts to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble that financial repercussions will deter Putin, nevertheless.
“What we’ve got seen is that Russia is definitely willing to pay a tough price for this war,” he said.
“There aren’t any signs that President Putin is preparing or planning for peace. He’s preparing for more war, or latest offensive, mobilizing more troops, setting the Russian economy on a war footing and in addition actually reaching out to other authoritarian regimes like North Korea and Iran to get more weapons.”