Biden unsure if he’ll visit Ukraine after Boris Johnson, other leaders make trip
President Biden told reporters Tuesday that he doesn’t know if he will visit Ukraine as other NATO leaders make the trip in a show of support for President Volodymyr Zelesnky against Russia’s invasion.
Biden declined to commit to travel amid reports that he’s poised to announce another large tranche of US military aid for Ukraine after approving an $800 million package last week. Bipartisan legislation last month authorized $13.6 billion in Ukraine aid.
“The answer is I don’t know,” Biden said of a possible presidential trip to Ukraine’s capital, responding to a question from Kyle Mazza of UNF News.
“Do you want to visit Ukraine?” Mazza followed up as Biden passed him during a visit to New Hampshire.
“I’ve been to Ukraine many times,” Biden replied. “I just haven’t been there recently — more than any other president. I’m the only one that’s spoken to the Rada twice.”
Zelensky called on Biden to visit the war-torn country in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN.
“I think he will. I mean, it’s his decision, of course,” Zelensky said. “And about the safety situation, it depends. I mean that. But I think he’s the leader of the United States, and that’s why he should come here to see.”
Biden previously blamed unidentified subordinates for keeping him from making a trip to Ukraine.
“I’m here in Poland to see firsthand the humanitarian crisis and quite frankly, part of my disappointment is that I can’t see it firsthand like I have in other places,” Biden said March 25 in southeastern Poland.
“They will not let me, understandably, I guess, cross the border and take a look at what’s going on in Ukraine,” Biden said, seated next to Polish President Andrzej Duda.
But Ukrainian officials have welcomed many European leaders who made the trip to show their support.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with Zelensky on April 9 and walked the deserted streets of Kyiv in a show of solidarity after Russian troops pulled back from the capital city.
Other leaders who visited Ukraine recently include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who visited on April 8, and the presidents of Estonia, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania — who made the journey by train on April 13.
The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia visited Kyiv on March 15 despite heavy bombardment of the city three weeks into the Russian invasion, which began on Feb. 24.
Biden said Thursday that he is considering sending a top US official to Ukraine, but that the possibility was still under consideration.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reportedly are contenders to lead a “surprise” US delegation to Ukraine in Biden’s stead.
Biden led the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and fomented rebellion by a pair of pro-Russian rebel states in eastern Ukraine.
His son Hunter Biden earned a reported $1 million annual salary to serve on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, despite no relevant industry experience. President Donald Trump was impeached in 2019 for pressuring Zelensky to announce an investigation of the Bidens.
