Europe 1 with AFP 4:43 p.m., February 20, 2023

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday (February 20) that the United States warned Russia of US President Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine just before his departure in order to avoid the less conflict.

White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said she could not disclose how the US president traveled to the Ukrainian capital.

The United States had warned Russia of President Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine ahead of his departure, in order to avoid any conflict, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

"We gave the Russians good warning that President Biden would be traveling to kyiv. We did it a few hours before he left," said Jake Sullivan. 

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A trip organized in the greatest of secrets

The White House adviser, who was also present in Kiev, clarified that "due to the sensitive nature of these exchanges", he did not wish "to go into the way in which they responded, or what was the exact nature of our message".

The American president arrived in Kiev on Monday for an exceptional visit to Ukraine, the first since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. The trip was organized in the greatest secrecy.

Joe Biden left an airbase near Washington early Sunday morning.

However, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said she could not disclose how the US president traveled to the Ukrainian capital until "the trip is fully completed".

According to Jake Sullivan, the visit "required additional logistical and operational security measures" through the echelons of the US state, to "bring an inherently risky operation to a manageable level of risk".

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First visit by a US president to Ukraine since 2008

"Of course, there was always risk (...) in a business like this, and President Biden felt it was important to make this trip," said the adviser.

Only two journalists were allowed to accompany the president.

This visit to Kiev by Joe Biden, the first of an American president in Ukraine since 2008, follows those of many European leaders in the Ukrainian capital and that of Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington in December.