The top-secret mission that brought Ukrainian President Zelensky to US

Operation free Zelensky: The huge top-secret airborne armada of NATO spy aircraft and fighters that helped escort Ukrainian President across Atlantic and to US for first trip abroad since Russian invasion

  • President Zelenksy was brought to the US in a top-secret escort operation
  • He was escorted there from Europe by an armada of spy planes and military jets  
  • Arriving in Washington DC yesterday, Zelensky met Joe Biden in a historic visit 
  • President Biden and the US Congress pledged billions more in military support 

Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenksy was brought to his historic meeting with US President Joe Biden onboard an Armada of NATO spy aircraft and American fighter jets as part of a huge top-secret operation.

An American Boeing C-40 military transport arrived in Rzesow, Poland to fly President Zelensky from Europe to the US at 8.15am local time on Wednesday.

Around an hour before, a Boeing AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control) spy plane was sent from Germany to the North Sea the Ukrainian President’s aircraft arrived to bring him over a treacherous expanse of water patrolled by Russian submarines. 

When President Zelenksy passed over Britain, he was joined by a US Air Force F-15 fighter jet which took off from an airbase in the UK as part of the delicately-planned escort mission.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was welcomed by both sides of the house in a historic joint meeting of the US Congress

The Ukrainian President is pictured boarding his flight in Poland as he travels to Washington

President Zelensky met with US President Joe Biden at the White House, where he presented him with a medal from a Ukrainian soldier who asked for it to be given to President Biden

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden stand with President Zelensky outside the White House 

Zelensky thanked the US for its support in a speech to Congress at the Capitol in Washington DC 

The speech to the joint meeting was hastily arranged and only announced on Tuesday as Zelensky’s visit was kept in secrecy 

(File Photo) President Zelensky was escorted by a US Air Force F-15 fighter jet during his flight

(File Photo) An AWACS spy plane flew over the north sea, an area patrolled by Russian submarines, to ensure safe passage for the Ukrainian leader 

The F-15 jet returned to its base in Mildenhall, Suffolk shortly after Mr Zelensky’s plane passed over Scotland. 

Military AWACS and F-15 work closely together over the North Sea, a region that has seen Russian naval activity in the past.  

Later in the day, the airbone escort safely touched down with the Ukrainian President at Joint Base Andrews (JBA), just a 30-minute drive from the White House.

Mr Zelensky announced the visit on Twitter yesterday, saying: ‘On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defence capabilities of Ukraine.’ 

Thousands were able to track his flight for at least part of the journey as it travelled across the Atlantic.

The plane appeared over Berlin and just briefly off the coast of Greenland before disappearing again.

President Zelenksy met with President Biden in the Oval Office after arriving at the White House before the leaders held a joint press conference. 

Mr Zelenksky used his visit to thank US leaders and ‘ordinary Americans’ for their support in fighting off Russia’s invasion and pledged there would be ‘no compromises’ in bringing an end to the war.

President Joe Biden and Congress responded with billions in new assistance and a pledge to help Ukraine pursue a ‘just peace’.

Mr Biden welcomed Mr Zelensky to the Oval Office, saying the US and Ukraine would continue to project a ‘united defence’ as Russia wages a ‘brutal assault on Ukraine’s right to exist as a nation’.

Mr Zelensky, on his first known trip outside his country since Russia invaded in February, said he wanted to visit earlier and his visit now showed the ‘situation is under control, because of your support’.

Thousands of people were able to track Zelensky’s flight from Poland to the US for part of his journey

‘For me as a President, ‘just peace’ is no compromises,’ Mr Zelensky told reporters. 

He said the war would end once Ukraine’s sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity were restored, as well as the ‘payback for all the damages inflicted by Russian aggression’.

The highly sensitive trip was taking place after 10 months of a brutal war that has seen tens of thousands of casualties on both sides and devastation for Ukrainian civilians.

Mr Zelensky’s visit was intended to reinvigorate support for his country in the US and around the world amid concerns that allies are growing weary of the costly war and its disruption to global food and energy supplies.

Just before his arrival, the US announced its largest single delivery of arms to Ukraine, including Patriot surface-to-air missiles, and Congress planned to vote on a spending package that includes about 45 billion dollars in emergency assistance to Ukraine.

Mr Biden said Russia is ‘trying to use winter as a weapon, but Ukrainian people continue to inspire the world’.   

At the news conference, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin has ‘no intention of stopping this cruel war’.

Mr Biden said it is ‘important for the American people, and for the world, to hear directly from you, Mr President, about Ukraine’s fight, and the need to continue to stand together through 2023’.

After the White House meeting, the Ukrainian president was scheduled to give an address to Congress in the evening, which Vice President Kamala Harris would attend.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in her invitation to Mr Zelensky to speak to lawmakers, said ‘the fight for Ukraine is the fight for democracy itself’ and that they were looking forward to ‘hearing your inspiring message of unity, resilience and determination’.

US and Ukrainian officials have made clear they do not envision an imminent resolution to the war and are preparing for fighting to continue for some time. 

The latest infusion of US money would be the biggest yet.

Mr Biden has repeated that while the US will arm and train Ukraine, American forces will not be directly engaged in the war.

Mr Biden and Mr Zelenskyy first discussed the idea of a visit during a telephone call on December 11, with a formal invitation following three days later, according to a senior US administration official.

Mr Zelensky accepted the invitation on Friday and it was confirmed on Sunday, when the White House began coordinating with Ms Pelosi to arrange the congressional address.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said the delivery of the advanced surface-to-air missile system would be considered a provocative step and that the system and any crews accompanying it would be a legitimate target for Moscow’s military.

It was unclear when the Patriot battery would arrive on the front lines in Ukraine, given that US troops will have to train Ukrainian forces. The training could take several weeks and is expected to be done in Germany.

The visit comes at an important moment, with the White House bracing for greater resistance when Republicans take control of the House in January and give more scrutiny to aid for Ukraine. Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California has said his party will not write a ‘blank cheque’ for Ukraine.

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