The first lady of the United States reached Uzhgorod through Slovakia
An unexpected visit to Ukraine was made by the wife of the President of the United States, Jill Biden, who met with the Ukrainian “first lady” Elena Zelenskaya. However, the wife of the head of the White House did not reach Kyiv, limiting herself to visiting Western Ukraine.
US First Lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother’s Day meeting with her Ukrainian “colleague” Olena Zelenskaya.
US President Joe Biden himself has not visited Ukraine, although he expressed a similar desire when he visited Poland this spring. He hinted that his security advisers kept him from visiting Ukrainian territory.
Jill Biden traveled under a cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest senior American to visit Ukraine during the 10-week conflict with Russia, writes The Guardian. Among those who managed to pay visits to Kyiv are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Other Western leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, also met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
“I wanted to come for Mother’s Day,” Jill Biden told Olena Zelenskaya on Sunday, adding that “the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.” For her part, Zelenskaya thanked Jill Biden for her “courageous act.”
Jill Biden, on a trip across Europe to spend time with Ukrainian refugee families in Romania and Slovakia, traveled regarding 15 miles across western Ukraine from Slovak territory to Uzhgorod, CNN reports.
According to press reports, the American first lady traveled by car to the Transcarpathian city of Uzhhorod, regarding 10 minutes from a Slovak village bordering Ukraine.
Earlier, in the Slovak border village of Vyshne Nemecke, the US President’s wife visited a border processing facility, familiarizing herself with operations organized by the United Nations and other aid organizations to assist Ukrainian asylum seekers. Jill Biden attended the service in a tent converted into a chapel, where a priest proclaimed, “We are praying for the people of Ukraine.”
Before that, in the Slovak city of Kosice, Jill Biden met and offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia.
Then, already in Transcarpathia, the two first ladies – American and Ukrainian – got together in a small class, sat opposite each other at the table and talked in front of reporters before meeting in private. The school where they met turned into temporary housing for Ukrainian migrants from other parts of the country. According to The Guardian, Elena Zelenskaya and her children were in an unknown place for their safety.
The meeting between the two first ladies came following they exchanged messages in recent weeks, US officials said. Jill Biden drove through Uzhgorod, and the women’s meeting lasted regarding an hour.
As CNN notes, Jill Biden’s visit to Ukraine is the first visit by a US first lady to a “hot spot” since Laura Bush made a secret 10-hour visit to Afghanistan in 2008. Jill Biden herself, as America’s “Second Lady” in 2010, accompanied then-Vice President Joe Biden on his trip to Baghdad for the Independence Day celebration.
The White House said last week that the US president “would like to visit” Ukraine, but currently has no plans to do so. On Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also made a surprise visit to Ukraine and was scheduled to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky.
