President Joe Biden on Thursday reiterated his desire to visit Ukraine and confirmed that the administration is considering sending a senior official to Kyiv, the Daily Mail reported.
When asked by reporters if the White House would send a top-level cabinet member to Ukraine's capital, Biden said it is "making that decision now."
The comments from the president confirmed a report from Politico on Wednesday that internal discussions were taking place within the administration over the proposal, which is intended to bolster Ukrainian morale as the country defends itself during the nearly two-month-old Russian invasion.
Biden also replied with a definitive "yeah" when asked if he would like to visit the country. Just last month, he suggested an unspecified "they" was preventing him from crossing the NATO border into Ukraine.
"They will not let me, understandably, I guess, cross the border and take a look at what's going on in Ukraine," the president said at the time.
A direct meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris has reportedly already been ruled out, with a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken or Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin more likely, according to Politico.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have visited Zelenskyy in the past week.
Meanwhile, Biden spoke with Zelenskyy on the phone for close to an hour on Wednesday, pledging another $800 million in aid, including heavy weapons, to counter Kremlin forces.
"I just spoke with President Zelenskyy and shared with him that my Administration is authorizing an additional $800 million in weapons, ammunition, and other security assistance to Ukraine," Biden said of the call in a White House statement.
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