Ukraine anxious after Biden’s exit from race, as Russia war rages

Biden’s unflinching support has been central to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia. Now with him out, and Trump the frontrunner, Kyiv faces an uncertain future.

Kyiv, Ukraine – No US president has known Ukraine better than Joe Biden.

While serving as Barack Obama’s vice president, he visited Kyiv six times – and joked that he had spent more time on the phone with then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko than with his own wife Jill.

As president, Biden paid a surprise visit to Kyiv in February 2023, a year after Moscow began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, to meet with Poroshenko’s successor Volodymyr Zelenskyy and pledge more military and financial aid.

And no US president has been so helpful in securing Ukraine’s very survival, Zelenskyy said hours after Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday.

“We respect his difficult, but strong decision,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “He supported our nation in the most dramatic moment in its history.”