News about President Biden’s surprise visit to Kyiv. Last Minute UK, Russia headlines and events

US President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv days before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. During his visit, Biden assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Washington would continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.

President Biden and Ukrainian President Zelensky walked the streets in central Kyiv and conducted investigations. During Biden’s visit, sirens sounded in Kyiv, but there were no Russian rockets or shelling.

Biden, who praised the courage of Ukrainians who resisted the Russian invasion, said: “When Putin launched the invasion about a year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he was more stable than us. But he was very wrong.”

Biden said: “The price that Ukraine had to pay is unusually high. Great sacrifices were made. We know we have difficult days, weeks and years ahead of us.”

President Biden tweeted: “A year later, Kyiv is standing. Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. America and peace with Ukraine.

President Biden, who promised to supply Ukraine with an additional $500 million worth of weapons, artillery ammunition, armored anti-vehicle systems and air defense radars, also noted that tougher sanctions would be imposed against Russia.

Zelenskiy also told Biden that his visit was “a very important sign of his support for all Ukrainians.”

“The visit of an American president to Ukraine for the first time in 15 years is the most important in the history of Ukrainian-American relations,” Zelensky said.

Regarding Biden’s visit, Zelensky tweeted: “Historic. Timely and boldly. As Russia approaches the first year of a full-scale offensive, I welcomed President Biden to Kyiv. I am grateful to America for supporting Ukraine.” work together to ensure Ukraine’s victory.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba also called Biden’s visit “a victory for the Ukrainian people and President Zelensky” and “a clear sign that no one is afraid of the swamp called Russia.”

Biden’s visit to Kyiv comes a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech, which is expected to reveal Russia’s goals for the second year of the war. Putin now defines war as a proxy war against Western military power.

“This visit will be taken by the Kremlin as further evidence that America is playing on Russia’s strategic defeat in the war and that this war has turned into an irreversible war between Russia and the West,” said Russian political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya.

Stanovaya said: “It was expected that (Putin’s) speech tomorrow would signal a break in relations with the West. Now you can make some changes to make the tone of speech much more severe.

winter campaign

Moscow is preparing for the winter campaign by sending thousands of mercenaries and reservists to the battlefield. Western countries are of the opinion that the first anniversary of the war will be the main motivation for the bloodiest phase of the conflict, and therefore the anniversary has not only a symbolic meaning.

In recent weeks, Russia has not made much progress in the offensive on the eastern front. Kyiv and the West say these small victories will be a source of pride for Putin, who has unleashed the biggest war in Europe since World War II.

On the other hand, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to arrive in Moscow today. Wang’s visit to Russia is considered Moscow’s clear diplomatic support. Although China signed a “perpetual” friendship treaty with Russia weeks before the invasion, it has so far followed the war with dispassion.

In recent days, Washington has been concerned that Beijing may start supplying weapons to Moscow. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the United States is “not in a position to make demands on China” and that “China’s all-round cooperation with Russia” is a matter of two independent states.

Russia is trying to guarantee full sovereignty in the Donbas, which is a mining and industrial region of Ukraine. To this end, Russia, which has attacked many areas from Kremennaya in the north to Ugledar in the south, is trying to consolidate its latest gains in the mining town of Bakhmut.

Kiev, which is preparing to receive large quantities of weapons and combat ammunition from Western countries for a counterattack planned in the coming months, is mainly focusing on ground defense and claims to have inflicted heavy losses on Russian troops.

In his nightly speech, President of Ukraine Zelensky said: “We are defeating the occupiers and inflicting incredible losses on Russia. The more losses Russia inflicts in the Donbass, Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Marinka, Kremennaya, the faster we will end this war with Ukraine.” victory,” he said.

political pressure

The British Ministry of Defense reported that Russia had suffered heavy losses. It was recorded that during an unsuccessful raid on Vuhledar in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, two elite military units, consisting of thousands of marines, were killed.

“Russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as the anniversary of the invasion approaches. If Russia’s spring offensive fails, tensions between Russian leaders are likely to escalate,” the ministry said. The ministry also predicts that Moscow will announce the capture of Bakhmut, regardless of the situation on the ground.

The unsuccessful attacks by Ukrainian troops on Vuhledar, located at the intersection of the eastern and southern fronts, provoke mutual reproaches among pro-war Russian bloggers. Western governments say Moscow has lost thousands of soldiers and large numbers of armored vehicles trying to cross the minefield.

Since the beginning of the war, Western countries have provided massive military support to Ukraine with hundreds of tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Kyiv also needs long-range missiles and combat aircraft. However, it is believed that their supply would violate the principle of the West not to supply Ukraine with weapons capable of hitting the interior of Russia.

Ukraine insists that Western countries are going to supply military aircraft.

“The real question is when a decision on this issue will be announced. How many aircraft will be delivered and what weapons will be on these aircraft,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.

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