Joe Biden Makes Surprise Visit to Kyiv on President's Day, Promises $500 Million in American Taxpayer-Funded Weapons

By Cassandra MacDonald  |  February 20, 2023

President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine to meet with President Voldoymyr Zelenskyy on Monday.

Biden promised Ukraine another $500 million in taxpayer-funded weapons during the trip.

The U.S. Congress has already appropriated more than $113 billion towards Ukraine response efforts, according to the Joint Strategic Oversight Plan for Ukraine Response report.

On Monday, Biden met with Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace just days before the one-year anniversary of the start of the conflict. He vowed to support the nation for “as long as it takes.”

“One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden declared after the meeting.  “And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.”

The American president also said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “dead wrong” to think Russia could outlast Ukraine and its allies in the fight.

Biden spent about five hours with Zelenskyy, according to a report from the Associated Press. Air raid sirens dramatically rang out in the city as the meeting wrapped up at St. Michael’s Cathedral.

Zelensky said that “the results of this visit will surely be seen and will surely be reflected on the battlefield in liberating our territories.”

The Ukrainian leader also said they had discussed the US sending new weapons that had not been sent before, though he did not specify which. The Ukrainian president has been begging to be supplied with F-16 fighter jets, which the US and other allies have not previously agreed to.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, who had accompanied Biden, said they warned Russia about the visit a few hours before the president’s arrival. He would not respond to media inquiries about the Kremlin’s response.

Not everyone supported the trip, particularly since Biden has not visited East Palestine, Ohio, where a train carrying highly toxic chemicals derailed in early February.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted that it was “incredibly insulting.”

“Today on our President’s Day, Joe Biden, the President of the United States chose Ukraine over America, while forcing the American people to pay for Ukraine’s government and war,” Rep. Greene wrote. “I can not express how much Americans hate Joe Biden.”

TPUSA’s Benny Johnson also called the visit “insulting.”

“You will never seen a more intentionally insulting move by a US President,” Johnson wrote. “This cannot be understated. Cravenly cruel.”

Johnson also pointed out that a trip from DC to East Palestine would likely only be a 30-minute flight. Biden took a 10-hour train ride from Poland to Kyiv.

Political commentator Jack Posobiec noted that former President Donald Trump plans to visit East Palestine while Biden is in Ukraine.

Rep. Matt Gaetz also slammed the visit, saying that the president has “ditched America’s interests since the start of his presidency.”

“When our border is in crisis, Joe Biden goes home to nap in Delaware. When Ohio burns with toxic chemicals, Biden’s admin says everything is fine. So on Presidents’ Day, I’m not surprised that Biden is ditching America for Ukraine, the congressman tweeted. “He ditched America’s interests since the start of his presidency. They can keep him!”

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