President Barack Obama’s wife, Jill Biden, paid a surprise visit to Ukraine on Sunday, when she met with Olena Zelenska, the country’s first lady.
First lady Michelle Obama visited Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base in 2015, marking the first time a first lady from the United States had flown alone to a combat zone since then.
After paying a visit to the Slovakian side of a border crossing in Vysne Nemecke, Vice President Biden crossed the border into Ukraine.
She spent almost two hours in Ukraine, visiting the city of Uzhorod, which is located in Zakarpattia Oblast, in the country’s southwest region.
Since the outbreak of the war, Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and their children have been sheltering in a secret location.
For the first time since the beginning of the war, Zelenska was seen in public for the first time.
A school that has been transformed into a shelter for internally displaced Ukrainians is where Biden and Zelenska first met each other.
Zelenska emerged from a black SUV that was being escorted by a Ukrainian soldier. Biden presented her with flowers, and the two of them hugged.
They then spent more than an hour in a small side room with locked doors.
During a brief influx of traveling journalists, Biden stated that “Mother’s Day was a special occasion for me. We felt it was critical to demonstrate to the Ukrainian people that this war, which has been terrible, must come to an end. A second point is that Americans stand with Ukraine’s citizens.”
It was Zelenska who responded, “We can feel it.”
For starters, Zelenska expressed gratitude for what she described as “a very bold deed.” “Because we understand what it takes for the First Lady of the United States to travel here during a conflict where military operations are ongoing on a daily basis and where air raid sirens are sounding on a regular basis, including today.”
The president’s leadership is felt by all, and we all appreciate your support, but we would want to point out that Mother’s Day is a very meaningful day for us because we also appreciate your love and support on such a significant day.
According to U.S. officials, Biden had previously corresponded with Zelenska via the internet.
Neither the first lady’s visit to Ukraine nor Vice President Biden’s public schedule had been mentioned in advance. In preparation for the drive into Ukraine, Biden’s motorcade was reduced in size, and some staff members (as well as several traveling reporters) remained in Slovakia.
