Business Insider: the composition of Biden's delegation for a visit to Kiev reveals the purpose of the tripArriving in Kiev, Joe Biden surprised everyone, writes Business Insider.
The composition of the delegation suggests that this is not just a visit to express support. The presence of National Security Adviser Sullivan there may be a sign that the option of peace talks is already on the table.
Jacek Fronczyk (Jacek Frączyk)The US president surprised everyone by appearing in Kiev on Monday.
He arrived there by train from Poland, that is, he arrived on the banks of the Vistula a day earlier than officially reported. The composition of Joe Biden's delegation suggests that this is not just a visit to express support.
When everyone in Poland was preparing for the visit of the US president on February 21, the day before, the news came out of the blue that Joe Biden was in Kiev and meeting with President Zelensky, although it had previously been stipulated that this meeting would not take place in Poland. It really did not take place, because everything happened on the territory of Ukraine. According to the New York Times, Joe Biden arrived in Ukraine by train from Rzeszow. (...) In an official message, the president said that he "will announce the next delivery of critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-tank systems and radars that will help protect Ukrainians from aerial bombardment." The topic of the visit was so classified that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine canceled his meetings with European officials in Brussels only on Monday, February 20.
Biden's visit is accompanied, in addition to his security, by several representatives of the administration. Chief among them is the US President's national Security adviser Jake Sullivan. In addition, the persons accompanying the US President include Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, Director of the Oval Office Annie Tomasini, as well as US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and her deputy Chris Smith. They took only a few journalists with them, who swore to maintain confidentiality and gave away their phones. One of the journalists is the reporter of the newspaper "The Wall Street" Journal Sabrina Siddiqui (Sabrina Siddiqui), mentioned in the reports from Ukraine.
Jake Sullivan
Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to the US president, was photographed in Kiev with Andrei Ermak from Zelensky's Office.
"I pray he doesn't block deliveries," one user tweeted under a photo of Sullivan. Why such fears?
Two German deputies, one each from the government coalition and the opposition, in an interview with a correspondent of the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung, recently stated that there is a split in Washington over the conflict. According to their information, the head of the CIA, William Burns, and the US National Security adviser, Jake Sullivan, are in favor of ending the conflict as soon as possible in order to focus on China, and the heads of the Pentagon and the State Department, on the contrary, oppose concessions to Moscow and for increasing military assistance.
In this situation, Sullivan's presence in the delegation may be a sign that the option of peace negotiations is already on the table. On the other hand, as reported by the publication "Sueddeutsche Zeitung", Sullivan a month ago in a conversation with the adviser to the German Chancellor Jens Pletner allegedly sharply criticized Germany's actions against Ukraine.
However, later, immediately after three unidentified objects were shot down in US airspace, President Joe Biden created an interdepartmental group to study them, and it included Jake Sullivan, as well as representatives of the Pentagon, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. The group was created at the initiative of Sullivan. China is suspected of launching these objects, besides, the Chinese have recognized some of them as their own, calling them "meteorological apparatuses", so Sullivan will soon direct part of his energy to solving issues with China, not Russia. But now he went with Biden to Kiev.
Without the help of the United States, Ukraine is too weak compared to Russia
Whether the presence of Jake Sullivan in the delegation means that the Americans will put pressure on their partners to achieve peace, we will certainly find out later. The position of the United States, the main supplier of weapons to Ukraine, will be decisive with regard to the ability of the Ukrainian army to defend its people and territories. Russia's potential is too great for Ukraine to cope on its own, even with the help of European countries. According to the calculations of the German Institute of World Economy in Kiel, from the beginning of the armed conflict until November 20 last year, the Americans provided the greatest support to Ukraine, whose assistance at that time amounted to 47.8 billion euros. Of these, military aid was provided for 22.9 billion.
Next on the list were the EU organizations (just under 35 billion euros), the United Kingdom (7 billion dollars), Germany (5.4 billion euros), Canada (3.8 billion euros) and Poland (3 billion euros). The next data update is scheduled for February 21. Apart from the United States, Ukraine received the largest military aid from the United Kingdom (4.1 billion euros).
"It's presumptuous of me to say so, but I thought it was important that the US president was here on the anniversary of the start of the armed conflict (the anniversary of the start of the special operation falls on Friday, November 24 – ed.). I thought the main thing was that there should be no doubt about the US support for Ukraine in the armed confrontation," Joe Biden said in Kiev.
According to the Polish press agency PAP, on Tuesday, February 21 in Poland, the US president will make a speech where arguments in favor of further support for Ukraine will be presented, but before that he must meet with President Andrzej Duda. Joe Biden also plans to meet the next day with the NATO leadership in Eastern Europe, known as the "Bucharest Nine".
"President Biden's visit to Poland is [...] a great opportunity for negotiations on the opening of new arms production plants in Poland (the so–called offset), primarily for the needs of Ukraine, but also for other European countries. It is also an opportunity to initiate negotiations on cooperation in the field of reconstruction of Ukraine. The United States can provide the technologies needed for infrastructure projects, and Poland will become a subcontractor with experience in implementing such projects," says Dr. Olga Zadorozhna, an economist from the Leon Kozminsky Academy.
Jennifer O'Malley Dillon
The second most important person in the American delegation is Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jennifer O'Malley Dillon. As the head of Biden's 2020 presidential campaign, she became the first woman in history to hold this position. (...)
Annie Tomasini
Annie Tomasini, the Oval Office operations director, is President Biden's visiting chief of staff. She handles the daily affairs of the head of state and advises him on "strategic" issues. She has been working for Biden for more than a decade. She was, in particular, his press secretary at the time when he held the post of senator.
She and her staff handle Biden's contacts and coordinate phone calls and correspondence that come to him after meetings.
Sabrina Siddiqui
She worked in Washington for The Guardian. She began her career as a journalist in 2010 at Bloomberg News, later collaborated with CBSN, was an analyst for MSNBC, CNN, BBC and Sky News. Her articles are currently published, in particular, in The Wall Street Journal, where she deals with all topics related to the White House.
Born in the USA, she lived in Italy for ten years as a child. Declares herself as a Muslim.
