Following their first-ever encounter in Eastern Europe on Mother's Day, Jill Biden and Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, met once more on Tuesday, this time at the White House.
President Joe Biden assisted his wife in welcoming Zelenska, the spouse of President Volodymyr Zelensky, and has stated that the United States will support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia for "as long as it takes."
He gave her a bouquet that included sunflowers, Ukraine’s national flower.
Before stepping inside, where the administration informed Zelenska on how the US is attempting to assist Ukrainians who are suffering mentally and emotionally due to the war, the women posed for press shots.
Biden visited Romania and Slovakia in May in a public show of support for Ukrainians, mostly women and children, who had fled to those countries after Russia’s invasion.
“When I came back, one of the things that I said was you cannot go to a war zone and come back and not feel the sorrow and pain of the people that I met,” Biden said, recalling that Zelenska had introduced her to many refugees.
Zelenska’s White House visit followed meetings on Monday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development.
On Wednesday, she is expected to address members of Congress in an auditorium at the Capitol, following a similar appearance by her husband at an earlier point in the war.