Sanford's Simon Miles Holds Biden/Ukraine Media Briefing

President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to embattled Ukraine earlier this week was both a clear show of support to the Ukrainian people and an emphatic, defiant message to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, a Sanford scholar said Tuesday.

Biden’s visit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, just days before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had massive symbolic value, said Simon Miles, an assistant professor of public policy at Duke University and a scholar of Russia and the former Soviet Union.

But it was more than that, Miles said during a virtual briefing for journalists. The massive aid package Biden delivered will bolster a Ukrainian military effort already finding more success than the Russians expected. Miles discussed those issues as well as the ultimate fate of the ongoing war.

Watch the briefing and read highlights on Duke Today.