First lady’s secret visit to Ukraine
US FIRST lady Jill Biden has made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine, holding a surprise meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelensky as Russia presses its punishing war in eastern regions.
Mrs Biden travelled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.
She told Mrs Zelensky: “I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.”
The first lady travelled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine.
The two came together in a small classroom, talking in front of reporters before they met in private. Mrs Zelensky and her children have been at an undisclosed location for their safety.
The Ukrainian president’s wife thanked Mrs Biden for her “courageous act” and said: “We understand what it takes for the US first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day - even today.”
The school has been turned into transitional housing for Ukrainian migrants from elsewhere in the country.
The visit allowed Mrs Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to be doing himself.