not staking together. he thought he could outlast us. i don t think he s thinking that right now. reporter: while zelenskyy called the moment the most important in the history of the u.s.-ukraine relationship. translator: this is the visit in this most difficult period for ukraine when ukraine is fighting for our own liberty. today our negotiations were very fruitful. they were very important and crucial. reporter: negotiations about continued military aid. today president biden announcing an almost half billion dollar aid package including ammunition, howitzers and air defense, but big-ticket items like longer range missiles and fighter jets still up for discussion. tran tran this conversation brings us closer to victory. reporter: this surprise, unprecedented visit on the eve of a bloody anniversary. extreme secrecy shrouding biden s journey. no word but there were signs, deserted streets and heavy police presence suggesting a prominent arrival. president biden left
police presence suggesting a prominent arrival. president biden left washington for poland just after 4:00 a.m. under the cover of darkness, and after a long train ride arrived to warm smiles and laughter from ukraine s first couple. his feelings left in a handwritten message about solidarity and friendship which was echoed on the streets of kyiv. translator: it is support for us and the message for the russians that this issue must be resolved and ukraine must win. we hope his visit will speed up the events. reporter: john, the white house says they warned the kremlin that biden would be on the ground for what they called deconfliction purposes so russia wouldn t do anything while he was here. that was hotly debated with hardliners criticizing president vladimir putin for allowing biden to come meet with zelenskyy. we heard from russian vice
deliberations that went behind this we re told. they decided the message they would be sending by biden going into ukraine was worth the risk by going into ukraine. they had this plane that left in the middle of the night in washington. the blinds were pulled down as he was traveling and flying over. only two reporters on the plane, had their phones taken and confiscated from them, obviously to keep it under wraps. president biden only taking a small contingent with aides. typically he travels with a big footprint. they tried to keep it incredibly small as they flew to poland. in poland is where he boarded the train for the ten-hour ride into ukraine, into kyiv. you can t fly into kyiv. you haven t seen any of the world leaders do this. they took this ten-hour journey in the middle of the night with reporters in different cabins than president biden as they made a few stops to pick up more