Ukraine’s First Lady visits White House

US: US First Lady Jill Biden and Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska met again on Tuesday, this time at the White House, following up after their first-ever meeting in eastern Europe on Mother’s Day.

US President Joe Biden, who has said the United States will support Ukraine in its fight against Russia for “as long as it takes,” helped his wife welcome Zelenska, the wife of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as her black SUV rolled to a stop on the driveway. He gave her a bouquet that included sunflowers, Ukraine’s national flower.

The women embraced and posed for press photos before going inside, where the administration briefed Zelenska on how the US is trying to help Ukrainians who are suffering mentally and emotionally from the war.

Zelenska is on a high-profile visit to Washington this week.

“It’s so nice to see you again, since I last saw you,” Jill Biden said. She recalled their May 8 meeting, held when the US First Lady was traveling in eastern Europe and drove from Slovakia into western Ukraine to meet with Zelenska, who at that point had not been seen publicly since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his attack on Ukraine in late February.

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.

Biden, joined in the Blue Room by Linda Thomas Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, and other administration officials, said they would take turns updating Zelenska on how their agencies are helping. Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff also participated. – ARAB NEWS