Inside the White House’s Secret Plan to Bring Biden to Ukraine

But before dawn on Sunday, he was already aboard a US military plane crossing the Atlantic, the first leg of an itinerary to Ukraine’s capital carried out under cloak-and-dagger secrecy after months of careful planning. I went. Consultant.

Americans greeted the public holiday, Presidents Day, with clips of Biden in his trademark aviator sunglasses strolling in the cold next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky against a backdrop of air raid sirens blaring.

Standing with Zelensky as he announced $460 million in additional military aid, he said, “Kiev has captured a part of my heart.”

The details of how Biden slipped into the war zone are based on US officials who spoke on the record after the president left the capital city. Their journey began with a 4 a.m. departure from Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, continued through a 10-hour train-ride from Poland to Ukraine, and ended on Monday morning with their arrival in Kiev, where they spent five hours are.

The war is at a decisive stage, with a fatigue about the prospect of a prolonged conflict that could put pressure on Ukraine to enter peace talks. Zelensky needed a shot in the arm and Biden personally came by for a psychological boost two months after the Ukrainian leader made his surprise visit to Washington in late December.

During Friday’s uproar in the Oval Office, Biden made his final decision to leave. Even inside his own White House and the Pentagon, very few people knew about it.

Indeed, Biden decided that sending the message that America was committed to Ukraine was worth the risk of traveling to a country at war.

The question then turned to the delicate matter of when to tell the Russians. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the Kremlin had been notified “hours before Biden’s departure” for the purposes of the conflict.

No details were given about how Russia took the news and there has been no formal response to Biden’s presence in Ukraine.

Read: Russia’s war in Ukraine: Key developments and how it’s unfolding

The trip would parallel previous presidential visits to war zones such as Iraq or Afghanistan, and yet it was potentially far more dangerous. Unlike those places, the US did not control airspace or airports. Because of this it was planned on a very small scale.

To avoid the risk of any leaks, and also for security reasons, it was determined that the traveling party would be very small: Biden’s closest aides, a small medical team, two reporters, and Biden’s security detail.

In hindsight, there was something unusual about how Biden kicked off his weekend by hanging back in Washington. Usually he and First Lady Jill Biden travel back to their home in Delaware.

This time he attended Mass on the campus of Georgetown University. This was followed by a viewing of “The First Ladies” exhibit at the National Museum of American History.

The day ended with a plate of rigatoni at the Red Hen, where fellow diners stood and clapped as the couple left the restaurant at 7:47 p.m.

Within hours he would depart on the most consequential foreign trip of his presidency, boarding Air Force One with Sullivan, deputy chief of staff Jane O’Malley Dillon, Oval Office Operations director Anne Tomasini and other aides. They were on their way to Poland earlier than expected.

The President travels with a media pool but this time a total of two journalists were to be left behind.

Associated Press photographer Evan Wookey and Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui were selected from the originally scheduled group of media travelers. The pair were summoned to the office of White House communications director Kate Bedingfield on Friday and sworn to secrecy about the trip.

He was told that he would receive an email with the subject line “Arrival Instructions for Golf Tournament” with details of his departure. They followed instructions and handed over their cell phones before the plane carrying Biden took off. The devices where not at the US embassy in Kiev were returned to them more than 24 hours later.

Meanwhile, in Kiev, late on Sunday night some journalists were told to show up at the Hyatt the next morning. Logistics were going well on both sides of the ocean.

Air Force One secretly flew in a C-32 from Washington to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, then to Rzeszow, Poland. The shades of the plane were drawn.

After landing in Poland, the president began the 700-kilometre (430 mi) journey by train and arrived in Kiev at 8 a.m. local time (1 a.m. Washington time) wearing a blue-and-yellow striped tie, the Ukrainian colour. flag.

“It’s good to be back in Kiev,” the president said as he got off the train. Person on Ukraine.

Biden arrived at the Mariinsky Palace in a white Toyota SUV instead of the usual presidential convoy. The staff did not ride in the armored limousine known as “The Beast” or the presidential SUV.

He was greeted by Zelensky in his signature green military uniform and by his wife, Olena. “Thank you for coming,” Zelensky said, shaking Biden’s hand.

Shaking hands with Olena, Biden quickly asked, “How are the kids?”

The two men had a private conversation for about 30 minutes. “I thought it was important that there be no doubt about American support for Ukraine in the war,” Biden told reporters.

They emerged together to face the cameras.

Biden said, “Russia’s objective was to wipe Ukraine off the map.”

Yet one of the most iconic scenes that will go down in history was that of Biden and Zelensky walking side-by-side in downtown Kiev.

As they exited the gold-domed St. Michael’s Cathedral, itself surrounded by rifle-toting soldiers and located in a central square where burnt-out Russian tanks are kept, the sounds of air raid sirens echoed Ukrainians’ everyday life. Was a reminder of reality.

By 1:57 p.m. Biden was whisked away again, promising to stand by Ukraine “as long as it takes”. A plaque with his name was placed at the Walk of the Brave in Kiev’s Constitution Square.

Biden’s train arrived back in Poland shortly after 8 p.m. local time, marking the end of a whirlwind trip that Zelensky briefly described as: “Historic. on time. Brave.”