Free Republic

President Joe Biden’s top national security aides told reporters on Monday that despite the risks it entailed, the president felt it was “really important” to make the surprise trip to Ukraine. “He was excited about making the trip. I think he felt it was really important to stand up next to President Zelenskyy and speak the way that he did today,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on a conference call with press. “[He] felt he had an important mission to undertake, and he was eager to do it,” he added.

“I am honored to be welcomed again in Kyiv,” Biden, 80, wrote in the message, which he left for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the guestbook at Ukraine’s Royal Palace. “I stand in solidarity and friendship with the freedom loving people of Ukraine. Mr. President, please accept my deepest respect for your courage and leadership. “Slava Ukraini!” Biden concluded, deploying the rallying cry that means “Glory to Ukraine!” Accompanying an image of the letter, Biden tweeted: “Kyiv has captured a part of my heart. I knew I would be back.

The establishment media praised President Joe Biden for returning to Ukraine on Monday after visiting the nation six times in eight years while vice president. Despite the Biden family business scandal that involves Ukraine, the media cheered Biden’s return to the nation waging war against Russia, a conflict based on decades of territorial claims. The Associated Press’s Evan Vucci, John Leicester, Aamer Madhani, and Zeke Miller praised Biden’s eighth trip to Ukraine as “a defiant display of Western solidarity with a country still fighting what he called ‘a brutal and unjust war’ days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.”