Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine downplayed by Russia – National | 24CA News

Russian officers and state media downplayed President Joe Biden’s shock go to to Ukraine on Monday, portray Kyiv as a U.S. puppet and sustaining Moscow’s forces will prevail regardless of Washington’s pledges to ship extra weapons to Ukraine.

Biden met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy within the Ukrainian capital in a defiant show of Western solidarity with a rustic nonetheless preventing what he known as “a brutal and unjust war” days earlier than the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The go to additionally got here on the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s scheduled state-of-the-nation deal with, which some in Russia count on to set the tone for the 12 months forward _ together with for Putin’s bogged-down marketing campaign in Ukraine.

Biden spent greater than 5 hours in Kyiv, consulting with Zelenskyy on subsequent steps, honoring the nation’s fallen troopers and seeing U.S. embassy workers.

He introduced an extra half-billion {dollars} in U.S. help – on prime of the greater than $50 billion already offered – for shells for howitzers, anti-tank missiles, air surveillance radars and different support however no new superior weaponry.

Russian state tv lined the go to extensively, with anchors saying that it was clear that Biden “runs things” in Ukraine, which inserts into the Kremlin’s narrative that Zelesnkyy’s authorities is a stooge of the U.S. administration.

A Russian-installed official within the occupied Zaporizhzhia area, Vladimir Rogov, was quoted by Russia’s state news RIA Novosti news company as saying that Zelenskyy “looked like a servant next to Biden.”

Other commentators famous that Biden may search re-election in 2024 and mentioned his go to to Kyiv kicked off his marketing campaign.

“Biden in Kyiv started his election campaign in the most heroic surroundings in order to prove to everyone that he can still `do it just like in the good old days’,” senior Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev mentioned in a Telegram publish, including that “Kyiv was left with no choice by to try and drive people to the senseless slaughter as part of Biden’s election campaign.”

Pro-Kremlin pundits on state TV additionally alleged that Biden obtained safety ensures from Moscow forward of the go to. U.S. nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan mentioned that the U.S. authorities notified Moscow of Biden’s go to to Kyiv shortly earlier than his departure from Washington “for deconfliction purposes” in an effort to keep away from any miscalculation that would deliver the 2 nuclear-armed nations into direct battle.

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“Everyone knows that if Russia said that it wouldn’t hit Kyiv during a visit of some statesmen there, it means this will never happen, because we are the ones who keep their word, those who are on the side of the good and the civilized,” pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov mentioned in a political speak present on state Russia 1 TV channel.

The deputy head of Russia’s Security Council and former president, Dmitry Medvedev, in a publish on the Telegram messaging app additionally claimed that Biden had obtained “safety guarantees.”

Medvedev mentioned Biden “pledged allegiance to the neo-Nazi regime” _ as Kremlin officers consult with Ukraine’s authorities _ and promised it extra weapons, however the thousands and thousands of individuals leaving Ukraine present a solution “to the question of who the future belongs to.”

And state TV journalist Andrei Medvedev in a Telegram publish merely said: “Will this visit influence the final outcome of the war? No. Absolutely not,” though admitting that it could affect “the course of the hostilities at the moment and morale of Ukrainian citizens.”

Political analyst Tatyana Stanovaya mentioned the Kremlin will view Biden’s go to as “yet one more piece of evidence that the U.S. has completely bet on Russia’s strategic defeat in the war, and that the war itself has irrevocably turned into a war between Russia and the West.”

Stanovaya mentioned Putin’s state-of-the-nation speech on Tuesday “was expected to be very hawkish, aimed at defiantly breaking off relations with the West,” however after Biden’s go to to Kyiv, “additional edits can be made to make it even harsher.”

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