US notified Russia in advance about Joe Biden's Ukraine visit to avoid direct conflict

A senior White House aide confirmed that the United States notified Russia ahead of President Joe Biden's "risky" surprise visit to Ukraine on Monday to avoid any miscalculation that could have brought the two nuclear-armed nations into direct conflict.

Biden left Kyiv after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and spending a few hours in the capital. He promised America's unwavering support to the war-torn nation and promised increased arms deliveries.

"President Biden has left Kyiv," the report said, wrapping up Biden's lightning visit to Kyiv ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of the pro-Western country.

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who accompanied the president on the trip, told reporters: "We did notify the Russians that President Biden will be travelling to Kyiv. We did so some hours before his departure for deconfliction purposes."

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Sullivan added that due to the sensitive nature of the communications, he won't reveal how Russia responded or what the "precise nature" of the message sent by the US was.

Extending his pre-planned visit to Poland, Biden made an extraordinary first visit to the country since Russian troops invaded on February 24, 2022, and as a president, this was his first visit to a war zone. Experts have noted that there were risks involved and the visit was organised in conditions of strict secrecy.

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Other American presidents have visited war zones such as his recent predecessors, Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W Bush, who made surprise visits to Afghanistan and Iraq during their presidencies. They met with US troops and leaders of those countries.

White House staff said they cannot yet reveal detailsof how Biden got to the embattled Ukrainian capital. Communications director Kate Bedingfield said:"We are holding back on some of those mode of transportation details and other specific logistical details until the trip is fully complete."

Sullivan said the trip "required a security operational and logistical effort from professionals across the US government to take what was an inherently risky undertaking and make it a manageable level of risk."

He added, "Of course, there was still risk and is still risk in an endeavour like this and President Biden felt that it was important to make this trip."

(With inputs from agencies)

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