Upon her arrival in Uzhhorod, on the border between Ukraine and Slovakia, Jill Biden was greeted with a bouquet of flowers handed over from the hands of her counterpart Olena Zelenska. The two First Ladies exchanged a touching hug, while the American First Lady is in Europe to meet families of Ukrainian refugees. The two women, who immediately seemed accomplices, went together to a school in the city located 620 km south-west of kyiv. They were able to exchange with a group of children who made tissue paper bears on the occasion of Mother’s Day (celebrated on May 8 in the world but on May 29 in France). It is also to celebrate this important date that the wife of Joe Biden has chosen to make this surprise visit. “I wanted to come for Mother’s Day. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war must stop,” she told reporters. “The American people stand with the Ukrainian people,” she added.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, who had to move away from her husband for security reasons, has mainly worked for children. With Brigitte Macron, she collaborated to send young patients for treatment in France. She also thanked the country after the concert given on France 2 in solidarity with Ukraine.
Jill Biden, for her part, was in Romania on Saturday, where she again visited a school. She was then accompanied by Carmen Iohannis, the wife of the Romanian president. On Friday, the first day of her visit, the First Lady met with American soldiers deployed at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base (eastern Romania).