Biden has 'no plans' to visit Ukraine during trip to Europe, Psaki says
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted Sunday that President Biden has "no plans" to visit Ukraine during his trip to Europe this week.
It would likely be difficult for Ukraine to guarantee Biden's safety no matter where he went in the country. Western Ukraine remained safe for the first several weeks of the Russian invasion, but Russian forces have recently begun launching strikes in that part of the country, including a cruise missile attack on an aircraft repair plant in Lviv and a hypersonic missile strike targeting what the Russian Defense Ministry described as "a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the ... Ivano-Frankivsk region."
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield seemed to confirm Psaki's statement on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Three European heads of state visited Kyiv in the last week or so, [and] former Ukrain[ian] President Petro Poroshenko suggested that President Biden should visit Ukraine during his trip to Europe this week. Is that on the table?" host Jake Tapper asked Thomas-Greenfield.
(Tapper's first statement was not quite correct. According to The Washington Post, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa all visited Kyiv last week, but they are their countries' heads of government, not heads of state).
"As far as I know, that's not on the table," Thomas-Greenfield responded.
During a Sunday appearance on CBS' Face the Nation, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Biden should get as close to Ukraine as he can.
"[W]hat I'd like to see the president do is to reassure our Eastern Bloc allies. It's fine to go to Brussels. It's fine to go to Berlin, and I'd like to see him go to Romania or Poland or to the Baltics. They're right on the front lines and need to know that we're in this fight with them to win," McConnell said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
4 ways to give back this holiday season
The Explainer If your budget is feeling squeezed, remember that money is not the only way you can be generous around the holidays
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
4 tips for hosting an ecofriendly Thanksgiving
The Week Recommends Coming together for the holidays typically produces a ton of waste, but with proper preparation, you can have an environmentally friendly gathering.
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appeal
Speed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine-Russia: are both sides readying for nuclear war?
Today's Big Question Putin changes doctrine to lower threshold for atomic weapons after Ukraine strikes with Western missiles
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The North Korean troops readying for deployment in Ukraine
The Explainer Third country wading into conflict would be 'the first step to a world war' Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned
By The Week UK Published
-
Experts call for a Nato bank to 'Trump-proof' military spending
Under The Radar A new lender could aid co-operation and save millions of pounds, say think tanks
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
What happens if Russia declares war on Nato?
Today's Big Question Fears are growing after Vladimir Putin's 'unusually specific warning' to Western governments
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Missile escalation: will long-range rockets make a difference to Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Kyiv is hoping for permission to use US missiles to strike deep into Russian territory
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Atesh: the Ukrainian partisans taking on Russia
Under The Radar Underground resistance fighters are risking their lives to defend their country
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
'Second only to a nuclear bomb' – the controversial arms Russia is using in Ukraine
The Explainer Thermobaric bombs 'capable of vaporising human bodies' have been used against Ukraine
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The peaceful archipelago that may take up arms
Under The Radar Russia's invasion of Ukraine has left the Åland Islands 'peculiarly vulnerable'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published