Zelensky to meet Biden in US in first foreign trip since Ukraine war began

President Zelensky will arrive in Washington this afternoon for a summit with President Biden in what will be his first foreign visit since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president is also expected to make an address to a joint session of Congress.

Zelensky, 44, has not left Ukraine since the invasion on February 24, but has frequently made visits to the frontline. Yesterday he visited Bakhmut, a city in the Donetsk region, which has seen heavy fighting in recent days.

In a statement on his Twitter account, he said: “On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of Ukraine.”

Zelensky is due to meet Biden at the White House and then join him for a news conference. He is expected to address Congress this evening.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said the visit would “underscore the United States’ steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through the provision of economic, humanitarian and military assistance”.

Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, published an open letter inviting Zelensky to address a joint meeting of Congress, saying “the fight for Ukraine is the fight for democracy itself”.

This week, following pressure from Ukraine, the US announced a $1.8 billion package of military aid to Kyiv, including a Patriot missile battery and precision-guided bombs for fighter jets.

Congress is to vote on another $45 billion package for the war-torn country despite pressure from some Republicans not to do so. The party will gain a majority in the House of Representatives next month and several Republicans have expressed doubts about whether the US should continue writing what some have described as “blank cheques” to Kyiv.

In February, as Russian troops surged towards Kyiv, the US offered to extract Zelensky, who was being targeted by Russian assassination teams. The Ukrainian president retorted: “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”

The Biden administration has been the biggest backer of Kyiv since the start of the war and has handed over more than $20 billion worth of aid and military equipment.

Last week, the White House and the Pentagon had refused to comment on reports that Washington was preparing to accede to a request to hand over the Patriot missile defence system, which is capable of taking down long-range ballistic and cruise missiles fired by Russian forces, including those a significant distance from their targets.

In recent weeks, Moscow has peppered targets in Ukraine with missiles often fired from Russian territory. It is expected that a formal announcement on Patriot missiles will be made today.

The Ukrainian president has made several video addresses to national parliaments, including to the UK, since the start of the war, but has not held any face to face meetings.

Jill Biden, the first lady, visited Kyiv in May, but her husband is one the few western leaders not to have met Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital since the beginning of the conflict.

His unannounced visit yesterday to Bakhmut, where battles have played out between Ukrainian and Russian forces for about five months, took Zelensky to a forward position of a mechanised brigade. He met military personnel and delivered awards to servicemen in recognition of their efforts, thanking them for their “courage, resilience and strength”. Rumbling from the battlefield could be heard as he spoke. “I just wish you one thing — to win,” he said to the soldiers.

Zelensky observed a minute’s silence to remember those who had given their lives fighting for their country since Putin’s forces invaded nearly ten months ago.

President Putin has admitted the situation in Russian-held areas of Ukraine is “extremely difficult”, one of his clearest public admissions that the invasion is not going to plan.

Speaking on a national holiday in honour of Russia’s security services, Putin, a former KGB officer, also urged increased vigilance against foreign and domestic foes, saying: “It is necessary to firmly suppress the actions of foreign intelligence services, and to quickly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs.”

Putin ordered the Federal Security Service to ensure the “safety” of people living in the Ukrainian regions that Moscow moved to annex in September. “The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, is extremely difficult,” he said.

Seizing control of Bakhmut has long been a Russian objective. It could sever Ukraine’s supply lines and open a route for an advance on other Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.

On Monday Russian forces were reported to have lost positions south of Bakhmut, however. The city, which had a pre-war population of about 70,000, had become a “fortress” that had withstood months of Russian attacks, Zelensky said. “Bakhmut fortress. Our people. Unconquered by the enemy. Who with their bravery prove that we will endure and will not give up what’s ours,” he wrote on his Telegram channel following his visit.

 “The east is holding out because Bakhmut is fighting. This is the fortress of our morale. In fierce battles and at the cost of many lives, freedom is being defended here for all of us. Bakhmut defenders deserve our maximum support and our highest gratitude. That’s why I’m with them today.”

Ukrainian oil and gas facilities in the east of the country were the target of Russian attacks overnight on Monday, causing a fire but no casualties, the Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz said.

Kyiv was still suffering long power cuts yesterday following drone attacks on energy facilities, part of a Russian effort to plunge the country into cold and darkness.