The British prime minister, the leader of the European Commission, and the presidents of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have all visited Kyiv in recent days. They did so to let Ukrainians know that the West sympathizes with their sacrifices and suffering and to assure them of the West’s continued military and economic support. They wanted to show that freedom matters to them. President Joe Biden, however, has not yet been to the Ukrainian capital. His absence has not gone unnoticed around the world.
While there are legitimate security concerns over any possible presidential visit to Ukraine, they do not justify Biden’s avoidance of such a trip. The leader of the free world must be a witness to the most important battle for the future of the free world.
The symbolism of Biden’s arrival in Kyiv would be huge. Meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and average Ukrainians alike, Biden could pledge continued American support for their courageous resistance, condemn President Vladimir Putin’s vicious aggression, and deliver a landmark address on freedom in the 21st century.
As his poll numbers sag, one would think that Biden would jump at this opportunity. The sight of the president leading from the front would surely play well with voters. Of course, any trip to Ukraine would pursue an ambition far more important than higher poll numbers.
The stakes in Ukraine are significant not just for Ukraine and Europe but for free peoples everywhere. Russia is testing the thesis, not too long ago thought reserved for the history books, that more powerful nations can crush the democratic sovereignty of others — that free peoples who wish to remain free can be turned into serfs of an autocracy. But we can’t delude ourselves that everyone opposes Russia’s gambit. Communist China is watching very closely to see how Putin’s war plays out. As General Secretary Xi Jinping ponders an invasion of Taiwan, he now has a prototype experiment to assess the international community’s likely response.
If the West stands firm, slowly drawing nations from Latin America, Asia, and Africa into its sanctions and isolation campaign against Russia, China will have good reason to pause before attacking Taiwan. The same principle extends to other adversaries, such as Iran and North Korea. If those nations learn that the free world will not tolerate their future aggression, they will be less likely to pursue that aggression. Even if only at the margin, taking a stand against Russia in Ukraine can deter other enemies of freedom.
The security risks are significant but manageable.
The White House press corps would likely, and rightly, agree to a media blackout while Biden was on the ground in Kyiv. The Secret Service could also deploy a significant countersniper, counterdrone, and counter-ground assault envelope for Biden. The most significant risk would come from Russian air forces. Still, to assume that Russia would launch an attack on the U.S. president assumes that Russia would want to start a war it could not win. Kremlin bluster aside, Putin and his cronies know that a major war with the United States would likely end with their removal from power and perhaps even the end of the Russian Federation. Putin is not insane.
The benefit of Biden’s arrival in Ukraine, however, would be clear. It would draw a striking contrast between the American president and his Russian counterpart. Whereas the former stands with freedom fighters and innocent civilians, the latter hides in palaces as his young conscripts die in an unjust war.
America stands for something. By visiting Ukraine, Biden can prove that its stand is physical as well as philosophical.
