US First Lady, Canadian Prime Minister Visit Ukraine

US First Lady Jill Biden (left) meets Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska on May 8 – Photo: AP

According to the Associated Press, Biden’s visit is completely confidential. The first lady of the United States is the highest-ranking person in the country present in Ukraine amid the current conflict.

Mrs. Biden had a surprise meeting on Mother’s Day (this year is May 8th) with First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.

“I want to come on Mother’s Day. I think it’s important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop,” Biden told Zelenska.

Biden also reminded the American people to stand with the Ukrainian people.

According to Reuters news agency, the mayor of the Ukrainian town of Irpin said that Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau made an unannounced visit here.

Sharing on Telegram on May 8, Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said he had “just had the honor of meeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has come to Irpin to see first-hand the horror” they have to endure.

Trudeau is in Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a spokesman for the Canadian prime minister said.

The first lady spent about two hours in Ukraine, driving to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovak village she toured at the border.

The two first ladies went together to a small classroom, sat across from each other and greeted each other in front of reporters before meeting in private.

Ms Zelenska thanked Ms. Biden for her “brave act”.

Mrs. Biden made the diplomatic visit her husband wanted to make.

In March, US President Joe Biden shared that he was very disappointed that he could not visit Ukraine to “see” the situation with his own eyes, allegedly for security reasons.