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How President Biden pulled off a secret trip to Ukraine one year into Russia's war

Story by Joey Garrison and Rebecca Morin, USA TOD

While most of Washington slept, President Joe Biden arrived in Kyiv around 8 a.m. local time Monday aboard a train that traveled overnight from neighboring Poland.

The dramatic display of solidarity with Ukraine was the culmination of months of planning by a small team of administration officials. A final decision came in an Oval Office meeting Friday to move forward with a secret trip to war-torn Ukraine ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion.

The historic mission posed extraordinary risks. Although presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama made surprise visits to Afghanistan and Iraq, this was the first presidential trip to a war zone in which the U.S. did not have a military presence.

"I thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about U.S. support for Ukraine in the war," Biden said at 9 a.m. local time alongside Ukranian President Volodymr Zelenskyy, who had greeted him 30 minutes earlier at Mariinksy Palace, the president's official residence.

Donning Ukraine's colors with a blue and yellow striped tie, Biden spent about five hours in Kyiv before departing for Poland, which White House officials insisted last week would be Biden's only destination during his three-day swing to Europe

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/how-president-biden-pulled-off-a-secret-trip-to-ukraine-one-year-into-russia-s-war/ar-AA17IUMo?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=4757a5ac42ab4b928d2262bfe209d285