US President Joe Biden, left, walks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, February 20.

Evan Vucci/AP

In pictures: US presidents in war zones

Updated 2209 GMT (0609 HKT) February 20, 2023

US President Joe Biden, left, walks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, February 20.

Evan Vucci/AP

By Bernadette Tuazon, Sarah Tilotta and Rebecca Wright, CNN

US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago.

While in Kyiv, Biden announced a half-billion dollars in new assistance, including more military equipment, and he said new sanctions would be imposed on Moscow later in the week.

Here are some other times in history that a US president has visited a war zone.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and US Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower share a Jeep while visiting Castelvetrano, Italy, during World War II in December 1943. Gen. George S. Patton is standing on the left.

Corbis/Getty Images

Eisenhower, as president-elect, eats with American soldiers on the front lines of the Korean War in December 1952.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes hands with American troops while visiting Vietnam in 1966.

Pictures From History/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Johnson addresses American troops in South Vietnam in December 1967 and assures them that they have the support of their country.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

President Richard Nixon greets troops in South Vietnam in July 1969.

David Turnley/Corbis/Getty Images

In January 1996, US troops salute President Bill Clinton in Bosnia and Herzegovina. US forces were there as part of peacekeeping efforts in the former Yugoslavia.

Diana Walker/Getty Images

President George W. Bush holds a Thanksgiving turkey while visiting US troops stationed in Baghdad, Iraq, in November 2003. The Iraq War began in March of that year.

Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images

Bush and first lady Laura Bush exit Air Force One as they arrive at an air base north of Kabul, Afghanistan, in March 2006.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Bush, second from right, attends a teleconference with members of the US and Iraqi cabinets while visiting Baghdad in June 2006. Bush had made a surprise visit to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Jacob Silberberg/Pool/Getty Images

Bush greets troops while visiting an air base in Iraq's Anbar province in September 2007.

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Bush speaks with US troops in Baghdad in December 2008.

Evan Vucci/AP

President Barack Obama speaks to military personnel while visiting Baghdad in April 2009.

Charles Dharapak/AP

Obama meets with troops at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in December 2010.

Jim Young/Reuters

Obama shakes hands with US Sgt. Chase Haag while visiting wounded troops in Afghanistan in May 2012. He presented Haag with a Purple Heart.

Pete Souza/The White House/Getty Images

Obama greets US troops during a surprise visit to Afghanistan in May 2014.

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet members of the military as they arrive for a hangar rally at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in December 2018.

Andrew Harnik/AP

Trump serves food to US troops during a surprise visit to Afghanistan in November 2019.

Tom Brenner/Reuters