President Joe Biden said the United States would stand with Ukraine for “as long as it takes” in a joint press conference delivered from Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Biden made the unannounced trip on Monday ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Speaking alongside Zelensky from Mariinsky Palace, Biden declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin had miscalculated with his Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and warned that his “war of conquest is failing.”
BIDEN MAKES SURPRISE VISIT TO UKRAINE AS AIR RAID SIRENS SOUND
“Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided,” Biden said. “He thought he could outlast us. I don’t think he’s thinking that right now.”
“He’s just been plain wrong,” Biden said of Putin. “One year later, the evidence is right here in this room. We stand here together.”
Zelensky, who visited the U.S. in December, his first trip abroad, hailed Biden’s visit as the most consequential in Ukraine’s relationship with the U.S. and praised the tens of billions of dollars in aid Congress and the White House have provided to Ukraine.
“Ukrainians remember the focus, attention, the attitude that President Biden and the U.S. have given to Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “I thank you for this level of U.S.-Ukraine cooperation.”
Zelensky said the White House’s decision in late January to provide his country with M1 Abrams tanks was “of historic importance” while noting that he pressed Biden to provide even more equipment, namely long-range weapons systems the U.S. has thus far declined to supply.
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Biden, who arrived in Ukraine at 8 a.m. local time, departed the country early afternoon the same day and is expected to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday. He announced an additional $500 million in aid for Ukraine during his trip to Kyiv.
