course? i think the president going to kyiv doesn t settle that problem once and for all. ideally, it would have been great had he shown up, you know, with senator mcconnell or somebody like that who is strongly in support of the war. again, it sends a reassuring message to ukraine about american staying power. which, jonathan, is critical for europe. europe has followed behind and with the united states for the most part. this is leading from ahead, and that is what is required in this instance. we are now past 6:00. welcome to morning joe at this morning. joe, mika and willie have the day off. i want to bring in katty kay, special u.s. correspondent for bbc news, into our live, rolling coverage of this presidents day and president biden s surprise trip to ukraine, one meant to show a real symbol of solidarity, katty, with kyiv, as it has weathered russia s invasion now for 12 months. yeah, jonathan, what a day for us to kick off presidents s day, to see these images.
headquarters in new york city on this presidents day. there are high stakes today. joe biden, the first president in modern history to travel to a war zone without u.s. troops already on the ground. the message his visit is sending to ukraine, america s allies and the american people as he gears up for another run at the white house. how is vladimir putin responding to the president s diplomatic slap in the face as the kremlin tries to spin something positive out of a war marked by frustration and failure? we ll have a live report from moscow coming up. and ron desantis welcoming political attacks from his fellow republicans saying this morning if, quote, people aren t firing at me, then i m not doing my job. but how long until he starts firing back? a lot to get to. let s start with president biden already on the move, heading to poland following the unannounced and unprecedented visit to ukraine taking the opportunity to literally stand with president volodymyr zelenskyy
ukraine stands and democracy stands. a vital message delivered by president joe biden today. made more significant when he delivered the words from kyiv itself. he walks side-by-side with president zelenskyy and the ukrainian capital. it s a moment filled with symbolism with an american president ineffectively a war zone with daily bombardment from russia s forces. two presidents who visit war zones like iraq or afghanistan. president biden delivered a message not just to president zelenskyy and the ukrainian people but to western allies as well as the russians. the message is that america the financial a military backer of ukraine is in it for the long haul. for you and all ukrainians, your mind the world every single day with the meaning of the word courage is. all sectors of your economy and all walks of life and it is astounding. astounding. it is priceless and worth fighting for for as long as it takes and that is how long we will be with you mr. president, for as long
biden is expected to have new sanctions on russia. on saturday, the u.s. firmly accused russia of committing war crimes against humanity in ukraine. putin s war has cost thousands of lives. it is targeted civilians. putin has even taken aim at a maternity hospital in mariupol. as we enter year two of the invasion, there is no clear end in sight. and now there are new concerns about china s involvement. this weekend, u.s. officials warn that china might be providing russia with non lethal military assistance. it could provide lethal assistance in the future. here s what secretary of state anthony blinken said earlier today on msnbc. jen is trying to have it both ways. publicly, and privately as i said we have seen already over the past months. the nonlethal assistance that does go directly to aiding and abetting russia s war. and some further information that we are sharing today. i think it will be out there soon. it indicates that they will have lethal assistance to russ
against its journalists. the 76th annual british academy awards take place in london later with the german language film, all quiet on the western front, leading the field with m nominations. the us secretary of state antony blinken has alleged that china is considering supplying weapons and ammunition to russia for its war against ukraine. he was speaking to cbs news after meeting china s top diplomat wang yi on the sidelines of the international security conference in munich. he said he d warned mr wang of consequences if material support was provided to moscow. mr blinken told cbs that chinese firms were already providing non lethal aid for russia s invasion. he was asked if support given to the mercenary group, wagner, amounted to military support for moscow. there is open source reporting that chinese companies are providing. surveillance equipment to that mercenary group, the wagnerl group, fighting in ukraine. does the us consider this to be providing military. suppo