Biden visits Ukraine
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Sitting for talks with President Volodomyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday, Joe Biden laid out his rationale for visiting the Ukrainian capital as the war enters a second year.
“I thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about US support for Ukraine in the war,” the US President said. “The Ukrainian people have stepped up in a way that few people ever have in the past.”
Biden emphasized there was broad, bipartisan support in Washington for the Ukrainian cause, even as some Republicans balk at providing further assistance.
“For all the disagreement we have in our Congress on some issues, there is significant agreement on support for Ukraine,” he said. “It’s not just about freedom in Ukraine … It’s about freedom of democracy at large,” he said.
Biden arrived in Kyiv at 8 a.m. local time (1:00 a.m. ET), according to reporters traveling with him inside Ukraine.
“It’s good to be back in Kyiv,” Biden said when he arrived. He was greeted by the US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink.
Biden’s motorcade arrived to the Mariinsky Palace just after 8:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m.ET). He was greeted at the entrance by Zelensky and his wife, Olena Zelenska.
“Thank you for coming,” Zelensky said shaking Biden’s hand. “More importantly, how are the children?” Biden asked, while adding: “It’s amazing to see you.”
Asked about the significance of being in Kyiv, Biden noted it was his eighth visit to the city. “Each time more significant,” Biden said.
He added that the purpose of his visit was to convey to Zelensky that the US is “here to stay.” “We’re not leaving,” Biden said.
For understandable reasons, Biden is exaggerating the extent to which support for Ukraine is genuinely bipartisan, as the issue has caused a growing rift between the Mitch McConnell wing and MTG’s Insane Clown Posse. This is in turn reflected in the shift in American public opinion since the start of the war:
The share of adults who say the U.S. is providing too much aid to Ukraine has increased 6 percentage points since last September and 19 points since shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last year, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 18-24 among 5,152 U.S. adults.
This shift in opinion is mostly attributable to the growing share of Republicans who say the U.S. is providing too much support to Ukraine. Today, 40% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents hold this view, up from 32% in the fall and much higher than the 9% who held this view in March of last year.
I was impressed to learn that Biden has now visited Ukraine eight times over the course of his national political career, which started three years before anybody outside of Georgia had ever heard of Jimmy Carter. He’s very good at this kind of dramatic stagecraft; but of course the much more important point is that he would rather give full support to Ukrainian independence from Russian imperialism, rather than trying to extort the nation’s leaders for his own political advantage, like the former guy (I wonder how many Americans are even aware that the first Trump impeachment was all about Ukraine and Zelensky?)
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