Zelensky Urges Biden To Visit War-Torn Ukraine: "Come Here & See"

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for US President Joe Biden to travel to Ukraine in a show of solidarity in a Sunday interview with CNN.

Zelensky went so far to say that it’s his belief that Biden will eventually make the trip. “I mean, it’s his decision, of course. And about the safety situation, it depends. I mean that. But I think he’s the leader of the United States, and that’s why he should come here to see,” he said in the CNN interview which aired Sunday.

The appeal for Biden to meet face-to-face with Zelensky in Kiev, something which over a week ago British Prime Minister Boris Johnson did in a “surprise” visit, was addressed on Friday by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki who issued a firm “no” in response to an inquiry. 

“No. no,” she said in that prior interview when pressed if Biden will visit Kyiv. “We are not sending the president to Ukraine,” she stressed, explaining that the trip in the midst of a war zone would be a security nightmare. 

Somewhat comically she still took pains to emphasize that Biden is physically capable of going if he wanted to, describing that he “likes a fast car” and trying to portray him as some kind of 79-year old Indiana Jones…

“He is ready for anything. The man likes a fast car, some aviators — he’s ready to go to Ukraine,” Psaki described, but then stressed, “we are not sending the president to Ukraine.”

Psaki explained of Johnson’s trip that he had to take “an eight-hour train through a war zone to get to the middle of Ukraine” – and continued:

“So no, that is not in the plans for the president of the United States,” Psaki said. “We should all be maybe relieved about that.”

“You’re welcome, America. We need him to do a lot of things,” she added.

Zelensky’s urging for Biden to make the trip comes after heads of state in the East European and Baltic region have made the trip in support of Ukraine…

The presidents of Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia meeting in Kyiv today.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that he also wanted to go, but Zelensky decided to let him know that he isn’t welcome in Ukraine at the moment. pic.twitter.com/KuxSrySnO4

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 13, 2022

But of course the reality is that Biden’s age and apparently declining mental acumen is increasingly visible, and security nightmare aside, it’s unlikely that Biden could make such a challenging trip even if he wanted to.