President Zelenskyy Meets Joe Biden

Okay! What has happened?

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently met with President of the United States of America (USA) Joe Biden at the White House. Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, the USA has been helping Ukraine.

The visit of Zelenskyy came while the US government was planning to spend $45 billion to help Ukraine over the next year. The USA plans to help Ukraine in strengthening its defences and providing other help in its fight against Russia.

Why is there a war between Russia and Ukraine?

Since 1922, Russia and Ukraine have been a part of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was divided into several countries in 1991. Ukraine was one of the countries that gained independence from the Soviet Union during this time.

Viktor Yanukovych, the former President of Ukraine, rejected a deal with European countries in 2014 because he wanted to maintain ties with Russia. As a result, the Ukrainian people removed him from his job. In response, Russia took over Crimea, a part of Ukraine.

The current war began as a result of Russia's opposition to Ukraine's close relations with and desire to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Russia has demanded that Ukraine and other former Soviet countries should not join NATO. Russia declared war on Ukraine on 24th February 2022. Ukrainian forces are now in a battle with the Russian military.

What’s the current situation there?

Russian missiles are constantly bombing Ukrainian cities, causing serious damage to the country's electrical and water infrastructure. The Russian military has been targeting Ukraine's electricity supply facilities. This has severely harmed Ukraine's power supplies. As a result, people in Ukraine are left without power in freezing weather (imagine, no hot water or heaters!).

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was named Time's Person of the Year 2022. He received the title for his bravery in the face of the Russian invasion, as well as for motivating the Ukrainian people to oppose the invasion.

What did we learn from this article?

There’s not much to learn from war. It just brings death, destruction, and sadness. During this crisis, most of the world's countries are trying to help Ukraine. Let us hope that the Russia-Ukraine crisis ends soon.