US First Lady in unannounced Ukraine visit

US First lady Jill Biden (left) and Ukraine President wife Olena Zelenska (right) with a group of children making tissue-paper bears for Mother’s Day gifts at School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod, yesterday. (AFP)

US First Lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to Ukraine yesterday, her spokesman said, meeting her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelenska at a school sheltering civilians including children displaced by the conflict.“I wanted to come on Mother’s Day. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine,” Jill told reporters.A US official on the visit also said it was Zelenska’s first public appearance since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.Zelenska thanked Jill “for this very courageous act”.“Because we understand what it takes for the US First Lady to come here during a war when the military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day even today,” she told Jill.Zelenska stressed the symbolism of Jill’s Mothering Sunday visit.“We also feel your love and support during such an important day,” the Ukrainian First Lady said.Following a meeting behind closed doors, the first ladies joined local children in a classroom crafting cardboard and tissue paper bears as presents for their mothers. Jill and Zelenska both crafted their own bear, using white and yellow tissue paper.After the unannounced visit to Ukraine, Jill Biden returned to Slovakia.