Die Amerikaanse President, Joe Biden, het vandag in Kiev aangekom, soos die herdenking van Rusland se inval op 24 Februarie nader. Biden sal oor die volgende paar dae ook die Pole besoek. 

In ’n verklaring van die Withuis het die Amerikaanse president gesê sy besoek aan Kiev sal “die VSA se onwrikbare verbintenis tot die Oekraïne se demokrasie, soewereiniteit en territoriale integriteit herbevestig”.

“Toe Poetin sy inval byna ’n jaar gelede begin het, het hy gedink die Oekraïne is swak en die Weste is verdeeld. Hy het gedink hy kan ons oorwin. Maar hy was totaal en al verkeerd,” het hy gesê.

Dit gaan voort om te sê dat Biden en Zelensky ’n “uitgebreide bespreking” oor die Amerikaanse steun vir die Oekraïne sal hou en dat hy meer “noodsaaklike toerusting, insluitend artillerie-ammunisie, anti-pantserstelsels en lugbewakingsradars” sal aanbied om die Oekraïense verdediging te help. 

Daar sal ook meer sanksies teen Rusland wees, het die verklaring bygevoeg.

Dit het gesê die “ongekende militêre, ekonomiese en humanitêre ondersteuning” deur ’n “koalisie van nasies” om die Oekraïne te help verdedig, “sal voortduur”.

Statement from President Joe Biden on Travel to Kyiv, Ukraine

As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, I am in Kyiv today to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

When Putin launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he could outlast us. But he was dead wrong.

Today, in Kyiv, I am meeting with President Zelenskyy and his team for an extended discussion on our support for Ukraine. I will announce another delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments. And I will share that later this week, we will announce additional sanctions against elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine. Over the last year, the United States has built a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific to help defend Ukraine with unprecedented military, economic, and humanitarian support – and that support will endure.

I also look forward to traveling on to Poland to meet President Duda and the leaders of our Eastern Flank Allies, as well as deliver remarks on how the United States will continue to rally the world to support the people of Ukraine and the core values of human rights and dignity in the UN Charter that unite us worldwide.