Five Hours in Kyiv Took Months of Planning

Just a handful of officials were involved in the planning, administration says
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 20, 2023 7:05 PM CST
Five Hours in Kyiv Took Months of Planning
President Biden arrives at a military airport in Poland on Monday.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Biden and his wife, Jill, were spotted having a leisurely dinner at a Washington restaurant on Saturday night, per CNN, before they returned to the White House. Around 3:30am Sunday, the president's motorcade left for Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where Biden boarded an Air Force plane. The modified Boeing 757 shortly took off for Poland, per the AP, making a fuel stop in Germany on the way. At 9:37pm local time, Biden stepped onto a train at Przemsl Glówny station, the Hill reports. Ten hours and a few stops later, the train reached its destination. Stepping off the train in Ukraine's embattled capital about 8 am, Biden said, "It's good to be back in Kyiv."

Planning the trip, and keeping it secret, took months, White House officials said Monday. "It was logistically complicated and difficult," said White House communications director Kate Bedingfield. The planning was done by a small number of officials from the National Security Council, the Pentagon, Secret Service, and the White House military office, said Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser. Among the precautions taken was alerting Russia of the pending trip. Presidents have made unannounced trips to war zones before, but this one was complicated by the facts that the US has no military presence in Ukraine and lacks control of the airspace. Just three staff members traveled with Biden on Air Force One.

Instead of the usual 13-person press pool, one print reporter and one photographer traveled on the president's plane after turning in their phones. Reporters in Kyiv agreed to not reveal Biden's movements in real time. The visit lasted five hours, sending "an incredibly powerful message that President Biden has faith in the Ukrainian people and is unwavering in his commitment to stand by them," said Bedingfield. The trip "was a risk that Joe Biden wanted to take," she said. Another precaution was the subject line on emails sent to the two US reporters with information before their trip: "Arrival instructions for the golf tourney." (More President Biden stories.)

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