KYIV, Ukraine: President Joe Biden swept unannounced into Ukraine on Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a defiant display of Western solidarity with a country still fighting what he called 'a brutal and unjust war' days before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion.

'One year later, Kyiv stands,' Biden declared after meeting Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace. Jabbing his finger for emphasis on his podium, against a backdrop of three flags from each country, he continued: 'And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.'