US President Joe Biden made a short visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, today, Monday, during which he announced additional military aid, at a time of fierce battles between the Ukrainian army and Russian forces around the strategic city of Bakhmut, east of the country.
During the hours he spent in Kiev, Biden revealed half a billion dollars in additional aid to Ukraine, then left for neighboring Poland.
The White House said that Russia was notified of Biden's visit to the Ukrainian capital hours before it took place.
The Associated Press quoted the White House as saying that the US had contacted the Russians prior to the visit "to avoid any miscalculation that could lead to a direct conflict."
Biden arrived in Ukraine this morning from Poland on a train, as part of top-secret procedures and camouflage measures, as more than one US security official confirmed in the past days that there is no scheduled visit by President Biden to Kiev.
Sirens sounded in Kiev while Biden was with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inside the golden-domed St. Michael's Cathedral, which is located in one of the capital's squares, but there was no news of Russian missile or air strikes.
Confirming the continued support of the United States to Ukraine economically and militarily..Biden's most prominent statements during his visit to the Ukrainian capital #Kiev pic.twitter.com/JP84bFyz1h
- Al-Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) February 20, 2023
Moscow comment
For her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, in the first comment on the visit, that "we must not forget the fate of previous similar American projects, such as former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili."
Biden's visit came days before the first anniversary of the start of the Russian war on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, which is his first visit to Ukraine in his presidential capacity, and he visited it 6 times when he was Vice President Barack Obama, he said.
During a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Zelensky, Biden announced additional aid to Kiev worth $500 million, which he said would be announced in the coming days.
And the US President said that he saw that "it is necessary that there be no doubts about the United States' support for Ukraine," stressing that his country will stand by Kiev, no matter how long it takes.
New weapons
The White House said in a statement that the new aid would include "other essential equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-tank systems, and air surveillance radar."
For his part, Zelensky welcomed the visit, describing it as "a very important sign of support," stressing that his talks with the US President dealt with "the way to victory this year."
He stressed that the US support for Ukraine shows that Russia "has no chance of victory."
US media quoted a senior official as saying that Biden and Zelensky discussed Kiev's demands for long-range weapons.
Ukraine is preparing for what it believes will be a major Russian offensive that some military analysts say has already begun.
Bakhmut battles
And the Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted Ukrainian military sources as saying that the Ukrainian artillery inflicted heavy losses on the Russian forces north and south of the strategic city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, and prevented them from advancing and achieving their goal of besieging the city.
The pro-Russian authorities in Donetsk Province said that the Russian forces are now besieging Bakhmut, and will soon begin bombing military targets west of the city.
Jan Gagin, advisor to the pro-Russian president of Donetsk, saw that controlling Bakhmut was a matter of time, as he described it.
Gagin added that the Ukrainian army transferred its command to the city of Chasov Yar, which is adjacent to Bakhmut, and that the Ukrainian forces are suffering major problems in other axes, due to the push of its military reinforcements to the Bakhmut front.
But the Ukrainian army denied this.