The idea of ​​the bold trip of the President of Ukraine

to Washington was hatched for several months, before the unexpected visit became known a few hours before his arrival in the USA, the Associated Press writes.

During the October summit in Zagreb, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress,

, discussed the prospects of Zelensky's speech in the US Congress with her colleague from the Ukrainian Parliament.

Representatives of the Biden administration have also been negotiating with Ukraine for several months about Zelensky's visit to the White House, hoping that it will take place before the end of the year and send an unequivocal signal of support on the eve of a harsh winter, which can strengthen the offensive of Russian President

.

During phone conversations, Zelensky made it clear to Biden and other senior White House officials that the United States is the first country he wants to visit when the time comes to travel, said a source familiar with the content of the conversations.

In a telephone conversation between the two leaders on December 11, Biden repeated the invitation.

Zelensky replied that the time for the visit had come.

Pelosi's aide, a representative of the US government and a high-ranking employee of the administration told about the behind-the-scenes details of Zelensky's visit to Washington.

They all requested anonymity to talk about how the secret trip was planned.

Shortly after the preparations began, the program of Zelensky's ten-hour visit was outlined, which included a meeting with Biden in the Oval Office, a joint press conference and a speech in Congress.

After the two presidents discussed the trip on December 11, the White House extended an official invitation on December 14, a senior administration official said.

Zelensky accepted the invitation on December 16, and the visit was confirmed two days later, after which White House officials notified Pelosi's office of the Ukrainian leader's plans to travel.

The surrounding events were the result of a carefully crafted plan by the US and Ukrainian authorities to quickly and safely deliver Zelensky to Washington, his first known trip abroad since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February.

The President of Ukraine crossed the border with Poland on Wednesday morning, the Polish private television company TVN24 reported.

He arrived at the train station in Przemyśl, from where, accompanied by the US ambassador to Ukraine

, he was taken to the airport in Rzeszów by a car of the American embassy.

There he boarded a plane that took him directly to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington shortly after noon on Wednesday.

Zelensky was flying on a US Air Force plane, which is usually used for trips by ministers and other dignitaries below the president and vice president.

The White House did not publicly announce Zelensky's planned visit until 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, assuming that he would have safely left Ukraine by then.

As soon as Zelensky landed in the USA, the secret service took care of his protection, as is usually done during the visits of heads of state.

A high-ranking employee of the administration said that the US closely consulted with Zelensky on his security issues.

Meanwhile, Pelosi, who has traveled the world in recent months, actively speaking in defense of Ukraine, has also been preparing the ground for Zelensky's speech in Congress for several months.

She came to the summit in Zagreb in October at the invitation of Zelensky and Verkhovna Rada speaker

.

After returning from Croatia, the speaker of the House of Representatives began to discuss the idea of ​​Zelensky's speech on Capitol Hill.

She briefed congressional leaders — Senate Majority Leader

, House Republican

and Senate Republican

— about her foreign meetings and asked them to support the idea of ​​the Ukrainian leader's visit.

Pelosi, a Democrat who will hand over the speaker's gavel to Republicans in a few days, finally welcomed Zelensky to the Capitol on Wednesday, calling it a "tremendous privilege."

The speech of the President of Ukraine took place at a time when the Congress is preparing to approve the allocation of additional emergency aid to Kyiv in the amount of 45 billion dollars.