Biden arrives in Warsaw after surprise trip to Kyiv

President Biden arrived in Warsaw late Monday local time, capping off a whirlwind trip to war-torn Kyiv, Ukraine, ahead of remarks in the Polish capital on Tuesday.

Air Force One arrived in Warsaw at 11:13 p.m. local time following a 40 minute flight from Rzeszów, Poland. Biden had left Kyiv roughly 12 hours earlier, taking a train for about 10 hours to get back into Poland before taking the short flight to Warsaw.

The president toured the capital of Ukraine earlier Monday and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked invasion.

While in Ukraine, Biden pledged the U.S. and allies would stand with Zelensky and the Ukrainian people for as long as it took to win the war, and he announced $500 million in fresh military assistance.

“One year later, Kyiv stands and Ukraine stands. Democracy stands,” Biden said alongside Zelensky. “The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.”

Biden will spend Tuesday in Poland, meeting with President Andrzej Duda and delivering remarks from Warsaw on the war in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Biden will meet with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine, which consists of members of NATO’s eastern flank: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

The president will return to Washington, D.C., late Wednesday.

Biden’s trip to Ukraine took place under a shroud of secrecy as the White House carefully planned how to get the president in and out of a war zone.

The president departed on Air Force One early Sunday morning from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, stopped for fuel in Germany and arrived in Poland. From there, he boarded a train for the 10-hour trip into Kyiv. The president’s trip went unannounced until his arrival in the Ukrainian capital.