Moscow downplays Biden’s visit to Ukraine

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian officials and state media downplayed U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Ukraine on Monday, painting Kiev as an American puppet and saying Moscow’s forces will prevail despite Washington’s promises to send more weapons to Ukraine.

Biden met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital in a show of Western solidarity with a country that continues to wage what he called a “brutal and unjustified war” days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.

The visit also came on the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state of the nation address, which some in Russia hope will set the tone for next year, including the stalled campaign in Ukraine. .

Biden spent more than five hours in Kyiv, where he consulted with Zelensky on next steps, paid tribute to soldiers killed in action and visited US embassy staff.

He announced a new $500 million US aid package – in addition to the more than $50 billion already provided – for howitzer shells, anti-tank missiles, air surveillance radars and other aid, but no new advanced weapons.

Russian state television covered the visit extensively, with presenters saying it was clear Biden was “running things” in Ukraine, fitting the Kremlin’s narrative that the Zelesnkyy government is an American puppet.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in the occupied Zaporizhia region, said Zelenskyy “looked like a servant next to Biden.”

Other commentators noted Biden could be re-elected in 2024 and said his visit to Kyiv kick-started his campaign.

“Biden kicked off his election campaign in Kyiv in the most heroic setting to show everyone he can still ‘do like the good old days,'” Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram, adding that “Kiev had no choice but to direct people to a senseless killing spree on Biden’s campaign trail.”

Pro-Kremlin pundits on state television also claimed Biden received security guarantees from Moscow ahead of the visit. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan says the US government informed Moscow of Biden’s visit to Kyiv shortly before he left Washington “for relaxation purposes” to avoid miscalculations which could put the two nations in direct conflict.

“Everyone knows that if Russia says it will not attack Kyiv when some statesmen visit, that means it will never happen, because we are the ones who keep our word, the ones who are on the sidelines. side of the good and the civilized,” pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov said during a political talk show on the state-run Russia 1 channel.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and former President Dmitry Medvedev also claimed on Telegram that Biden had received “security guarantees”.

Medvedev said Biden “pledged allegiance to the neo-Nazi regime” — as Kremlin officials refer to the Ukrainian government — and promised him more weapons, but the millions leaving Ukraine answer “the question of who belongs to the future”.

And state television journalist Andrei Medvedev said on Telegram: “Will this visit influence the final outcome of the war? No”, although he admitted it would influence “the course of hostilities right now and the morale of Ukrainian citizens”.

Political analyst Tatyana Stanovaya said the Kremlin will view Biden’s visit as “further proof that the United States has been betting on Russia’s strategic defeat in the war, and that the war itself has irrevocably ended.” turned into a war between Russia and the West”.

Stanovaya said Putin’s speech on Tuesday was presumed “to be very harsh, aimed at defiantly severing relations with the West,” but after Biden’s visit to Kyiv, “modifications can be made to make it even tougher. “.