Ukraine war: Biden’s secretive trip to Kyiv was disguised as a ‘golf tourney’ – here’s how it unfolded
US President Joe Biden has become the latest and most powerful Western leader to visit Kyiv since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
The show of solidarity for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his people came as a surprise to many, as the White House said last week that the US president had no intention of visiting Ukraine.
Whether or not that statement was true at the time is something we will likely never know, but some details of how the president’s secretive and historic visit was carried out are beginning to emerge.
Here is how the high-security operation unfolded.
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‘I gotta handshake here, too?’
Journalists told to await ‘arrival instructions for the golf tourney’
Two journalists were summoned to a private meeting with the White House’s communications director Kate Bedingfield on Friday.
They were informed that President Biden would be travelling to Kyiv and that they were the only two journalists who would be allowed to travel with him.
They would form the “travel pool” – meaning it would be their responsibility to share details with other news organisations.
These pool reporters were sworn to secrecy about the trip and told to look out for an email containing instructions for an early Sunday morning departure from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
The subject line would read: “Arrival instructions for the golf tourney.”
The email arrived just after 3pm eastern US time (8pm UK time) on Saturday.
The journalists were told to report to the Andrews base between 2am and 2.15am eastern US time (7am and 7.15am UK time) the following morning.
Joe Biden sits on the train with his National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Pic: AP
Departure from the air base
The pool journalists arrived at the base and had their phones taken from them. The devices were not returned until their arrival at the US embassy in Kyiv more than 24 hours later.
They then boarded an Air Force C-32 often used to fly into smaller airports during domestic travel.
Before its departure, the plane sat in the dark next to a hangar with the shades drawn and away from the tarmac where it is typically parked for presidential travel.
Air Force One departed from the Andrews base at 4.15am eastern US time (9.15am UK time) on Sunday.
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Biden talks ‘very fruitful’ – Zelenskyy
Biden arrives in Germany
Air Force One touched down at Ramstein Air Base in Germany at 5.13pm local time (4.13pm UK time) Sunday under slightly overcast skies to refuel after an approximately seven-hour flight.
The plane remained with its shades down for the duration of its time on the ground, which lasted roughly an hour and 15 minutes.
The journalists on board remained in the press cabin the entire time and did not see Mr Biden at any point during the flight or stop in Ramstein.
Air Force One took off at 6.29pm local time (5.29pm UK time) after the sun had set and the skies were dark.
Pic: AP
Arrival in Rzeszow
Air Force One landed at the Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport in southeastern Poland at 7.57pm local time (8:57pm UK time) on Sunday.
The airport was clear upon Mr Biden’s arrival.
The journalists did not see the US president get out of Air Force One before he was quickly ushered towards an SUV.
The president’s motorcade began rolling at 8.12pm local time (7.12pm UK time) on a roughly one-hour drive along a fairly empty eastbound highway.
One of the pool journalists counted at least 20 cars in the motorcade which consisted of a mix of minivans, SUVs and suburbans – and sirens were not used to avoid drawing attention.
Pic: AP
Biden catches the train from Poland to Ukraine
Biden’s motorcade arrived at the Przemysl Głowny train station at approximately 9.15pm local time (8.15pm UK time).
The motorcade pulled directly up to a train that was mostly purple with two large strips at the bottom from its exterior and large square windows with the shades mostly drawn.
A handful of the train cars were blue with a yellow stripe along the middle and were reminiscent of the trains that have brought refugees into Poland from Ukraine.
Mr Biden was dropped directly in front of his train car.
The pool journalists were escorted to their own train car and put in separate sleeper cabins, each of which contained four single bunkbed-style beds.
One of the journalists was told by a security officer that the train had approximately eight cars, including the engines.
Most of the train was occupied by a heavy security presence.
A small group of passengers awaiting a separate train on the opposite side of the tracks were huddled in conversation and occasionally glanced over, but it was unclear if they could make out any of the activity unfolding before them.
The train left Przemysl Głowny at 9.37pm local time (8.37pm UK time).
One of the pool journalists was told by an agent on board that the train crossed the border into Ukraine at roughly 10pm local time on Sunday but this was not confirmed.
Much of the journey occurred in the dark and so there was little visible beyond streetlights and the shadows of buildings in the distance.
There was no interaction between the pool journalists and White House staff traveling with the president throughout the 10-hour journey, nor any sightings of Mr Biden on his favourite mode of transport.
There were a handful of stops, at least once to pick up additional security, along the way. It was not always clear what prompted the stops, most of which were brief, and the journalists were isolated from the staff on board.
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Biden and Zelenskyy meet in Kyiv
Biden arrives in Kyiv
The sun had risen as the train carrying President Biden approached the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
One of the journalists aboard described how “views from the window largely consisted of graffiti walls, barren winter trees and a colourful assortment of brick homes – many of them in pastel colours”.
The train came to a stop at the Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky station at roughly 8am local time (6am UK time) on Monday.
The area around the platform had been cleared and US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, awaited Mr Biden and his staff in chilly outdoor conditions.
The president’s first words after stepping off the train were: “It’s good to be back in Kyiv.”
The motorcade, which again was a mix of SUVs, minivans and armoured vehicles, rolled from the train station to Mariinsky Palace – the official residence of the Ukrainian president.
Along the way, the motorcade passed Kyiv’s Independence Square, the site of major demonstrations in 2013 and 2014.
The president’s stops consisted of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace, a walkabout with Mr Zelenskyy at St. Michael’s Cathedral, and a stop at the US embassy in Kyiv.
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Joe Biden arrives in Poland
Biden heads back to Poland
Biden departed Kyiv just before 1.10pm local time (11.10am UK time) in the same train he arrived in.
The train crossed the border back into Poland shortly after 8pm local time (7pm UK time).
The train arrived at the Przemyśl Główny at 8:45pm (7.45pm).
US
‘Deeply ashamed’ former US treasury secretary Larry Summers quits public life over links to Jeffrey Epstein
Former US treasury secretary Larry Summers has said he is stepping back from public life as emails showed he continued to communicate with Jeffrey Epstein after the paedophile financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Mr Summers, a former president of Harvard University, kept in touch with Epstein after the billionaire financier pleaded guilty in 2008, emails released last week showed.
The Harvard professor said in a statement sent to the university’s student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, and other media outlets on Monday that he wanted to “rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me”.
“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognise the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein,” he said.
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Trump on Epstein files: ‘We’ll give them everything’
Epstein took his own life in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges he sexually abused and trafficked underage girls.
In an email that year, Mr Summers asked Epstein for guidance in relation to a woman with whom he was trying to start a relationship.
In the message, Mr Summers wrote: “I said what are you up to. She said ‘I’m busy’. I said awfully coy u are.”
Epstein, who often wrote with spelling and grammatical errors, replied: “You reacted well.. annoyed shows caring. , no whining showed strentgh.”
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The new Epstein files: The key takeaways
Their correspondence was among thousands of Epstein emails published by the US House of Representatives.
When asked about the emails last week, Mr Summers said in a statement that he has “great regrets in my life” and that his association with Epstein was a “major error in judgement”.
The emails showed many in Epstein’s vast network of wealthy and influential friends continued to stay in touch long after his 2008 guilty plea.
Mr Summers, a Democrat who served as treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001 under former US president Bill Clinton and National Economic Council director under former US president Barack Obama, would continue to teach, he said.
According to his website, he teaches several economics courses at the prestigious US university, where he was president for five years from 2001.
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He is also a director of the school’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government and serves on the board of OpenAI.
Sky News has contacted Harvard University for comment.
Read more on Sky News:
‘Vote to release files’ – Trump
Trump’s ex-ally seeks peace
Investigate Epstein ties with Clinton, Trump says
Current US President Donald Trump called on Sunday for all the files to be released, a change of tack after he earlier dismissed the matter as a “hoax” perpetrated by the Democrats.
Mr Trump is one of a number of high-profile figures, who have been referenced in some of the documents.
The president has consistently denied any involvement or knowledge about Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
The White House has said the “selectively leaked emails” are an attempt to “create a fake narrative” to smear Mr Trump.
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‘Let justice be served,’ says Mike Pence on Epstein files
The House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday on forcing the release of the documents.
On Monday, US attorney general Pam Bondi said she ordered a top federal prosecutor to investigate Epstein’s ties to Mr Trump’s political enemies, including Mr Clinton.
US
Most advanced US aircraft carrier arrives close to Venezuela as Donald Trump administration builds-up forces
The most advanced US aircraft carrier has travelled to the Caribbean Sea in what has been interpreted as a show of military power and a possible threat to Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro regime.
The USS Gerald R Ford and other warships arrived in the area with a new influx of troops and weaponry on Sunday.
It is the latest step in a military build-up that the Donald Trump administration claims is aimed at preventing criminal cartels from smuggling drugs to America.
Since early September, US strikes have killed at least 80 people in 20 attacks on small boats accused of transporting narcotics in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.
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Trump takes questions on MTG, Epstein and Venezuela
Mr Trump has indicated that military action would expand beyond strikes by sea, saying the US would “stop the drugs coming in by land”.
The US government has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists”, however.
The arrival of the USS Gerald R Ford now rounds off the largest increase in US firepower in the region in generations.
With its arrival, the “Operation Southern Spear” mission includes nearly a dozen navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and marines.
Rear Admiral Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the strike group, said it will bolster an already large force of American warships to “protect our nation’s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere”.
Donald Trump said the US would ‘stop the drugs coming in by land’. Pic: Reuters
Admiral Alvin Holsey, the US commander who oversees the Caribbean and Latin America, said in a statement that the American forces “stand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilise our region”.
Government officials in Trinidad and Tobago have announced that they have already begun “training exercises” with the US military that are due to run over the next week.
The island is just seven miles from Venezuela at its closest point.
The country’s minister of foreign affairs, Sean Sobers, said the exercises were aimed at tackling violent crime in Trinidad and Tobago, which is frequently used by drug traffickers as a stopover on their journey to Europe or North America.
Venezuela’s government has described the training exercises as an act of aggression.
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Venezuelan president breaks into song during speech
They had no immediate comment on Sunday regarding the arrival of the USS Gerald R Ford.
The US has long used aircraft carriers to pressure and deter aggression by other nations because its warplanes can strike targets deep inside another country.
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Some experts say the Ford is ill-suited to fighting cartels, but it could be an effective instrument of intimidation to push Mr Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the US, to step down.
Mr Maduro has said the US government is “fabricating” a war against him.
The US president has justified the attacks on drug boats by saying the country is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels, while claiming the boats are operated by foreign terrorist organisations.
US politicians have pressed Mr Trump for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the boat strikes.
Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for the Andes region, said: “This is the anchor of what it means to have US military power once again in Latin America.
“And it has raised a lot of anxieties in Venezuela but also throughout the region. I think everyone is watching this with sort of bated breath to see just how willing the US is to really use military force.”
Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has said she is ready to mend relations with Donald Trump after a high-profile row between the pair.
The former MAGA ally had accused the president of “coming after me hard” over her efforts to get more Jeffrey Epstein files released.
But writing on X on Sunday, she said forgiveness was a “major part” of her Christian faith.
“I’m here to show how it’s possible to settle our differences and move forward as Americans,” she wrote. “That’s why I’m always willing to go on shows with different viewpoints.
“I truly believe in forgiveness and I am open to moving forward with the President.”
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Trump takes questions on MTG, Epstein and Venezuela
A day earlier, Ms Greene said she was facing threats after a barrage of criticism from Mr Trump – who has called her “wacky”, a “traitor” and a “ranting lunatic”.
Ms Greene claimed “a hotbed of threats” were “being fuelled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world”.
However, her attempt to build bridges appears to have fallen flat.
Mr Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday night that she was trying to portray herself as a victim and “nobody cares about this Traitor to our Country!”
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The new Epstein files: The key takeaways
Read more:
Who is MAGA ally Marjorie Taylor Greene?
Trump goes to war with the BBC
The row began when a petition to vote on the full release of the Epstein files received enough signatures – including Ms Greene’s – to bring it to a vote in the House of Representatives.
Despite his attacks, Trump said on social media on Sunday that “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide…”
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March 2025: Greene clashes with Sky correspondent
High-profile figures, including Mr Trump, have been referenced in some of the documents.
The president has called the Epstein files a “hoax” by the Democrats and has consistently denied any involvement or knowledge about Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
The White House has said the “selectively leaked emails” are an attempt to “create a fake narrative” to smear Mr Trump.
Epstein took his own life in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
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