US First Lady Jill Biden plans to leave Washington on Thursday for a visit to Romania and Slovakia to highlight the US commitment to Ukrainian refugees over Mother’s Day weekend.
President Joe Biden’s wife is expected to meet with US military and embassy staff, displaced Ukrainian parents and children, aid workers and teachers during the four-day trip, her office said.
Biden, who teaches English and writing at a community college in Virginia, will also meet Romania’s First Lady Carmen Iohannis, an English teacher, as well as Slovakia’s President Zuzana Caputova.
On Sunday, celebrated as Mother’s Day in the United States, Biden will meet with Ukrainian mothers and children who have been forced to flee their homes because of Russia’s war with Ukraine, his office said.
The wives of US presidents have little political decision-making power, but they often play a “soft power” role, carrying a government’s message to voters and abroad.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev. President Biden visited Poland in March.
More than 840,000 Ukrainians have fled to Romania and around 80,000 remain there. State television will broadcast weekly language classes for children from Friday, although only 2,000 Ukrainian children are enrolled in Romanian schools.
Just over 380,000 Ukrainians have entered Slovakia since the start of the war, but most have traveled to other European countries.
The country has been a strong supporter of Ukraine, sending aid and weapons, including its only Soviet-era S-300 air defense system battery.
Among those accompanying Biden are Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, senior director of multilateral affairs at the National Security Council, Curtis Ried, and director of humanitarian affairs at the National Security Council, Daniel Dieckhaus.
Source: CNN Brasil
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