Amid the ongoing war, US first lady Jill Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine and met with the war-torn country’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, on Sunday.
As Russia intensifies its brutal attack on Ukraine, the first lady of the United States, Jill Biden, made a surprise visit to the war-torn country on Sunday. She also met with Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, and held a Mother’s Day meeting. Biden reached Ukraine under a veil of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to do so since the onset of war in late February. “I wanted to come on Mother’s Day. 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,” Biden said, as per the Associated Press (AP).
The US first lady travelled by car to Uzhhorod, which is roughly a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian settlement on the Ukrainian border. She was in Ukraine for around two hours. “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,” Zelenska said thanking her US counterpart.
The two first ladies met in a small classroom in Uzhhorod
Before meeting in private, the two met in a small classroom in Uzhhorod, sitting across a table from one another. According to reports, Zelenska and her children have been kept safe at an undisclosed location owing to security reasons. The school where they met has been converted into temporary accommodation for Ukrainian migrants from across the country. The US first lady was able to conduct the type of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to be conducting himself during his visit.
