President Joe Biden’s “surprise” trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday was actually months in the making, U.S. officials revealed to Politico.
The president traveled to Kyiv to reaffirm his “unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity” amid Ukraine’s conflict with Russia and ahead of the war’s one-year anniversary.
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“Coming over, the president was very focused on making sure he made the most of his time on the ground, which he knew was going to be limited,” Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters. “He was excited about making the trip.”
The unprecedented journey was organized through a handful of people across multiple agencies, including the White House chief of staff’s office, the National Security Council, the White House military office, the Pentagon, the Secret Service, and the intelligence community. The White House itself did not address the president’s travel until he had safely arrived in Poland.
The trip itself started at 4:15 a.m. Saturday, when the president departed Joint Base Andrews to fly to Germany and then Poland. From Poland, Biden boarded an eight-car train for the overnight trip into Ukraine.
He arrived just after 8 a.m. Monday, according to Politico. Biden is expected to return to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
The trip included a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the unveiling of a new aid package to Ukraine that’s valued at $500 million.
Jonathan Finer, the deputy national security adviser, served as the logistical point man for the trip. The final decision to go to Ukraine was not made until Friday after the president met with his national security team in the Oval Office.
“His security team was able to bring risk to a manageable level, and that was what ultimately led him to make the call to go,” Sullivan said. “He got a full presentation of a very good and very effective operational security plan. He heard that presentation, he was satisfied that the risk was manageable, and he ultimately made the determination.”
The White House informed Russia of Biden’s visit to Ukraine ahead of time, Sullivan said, in an attempt to avoid conflict.
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The rest of Biden’s European trip is expected to take place in Poland, where he will make a speech. However, other members of the Biden administration are visiting other countries across Eurasia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently in Greece.
