US President Joe Biden said during an unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital on Monday (Feb 20) that Washington would provide Kyiv with a new military aid package worth US$500 million.

Biden said details of the package would be announced on Tuesday, and that Washington would also provide more ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems in Ukraine’s possession.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram that Biden’s visit was an “extremely important sign of support for all Ukrainians” and posted a photo of the two leaders shaking hands.

Biden’s visit is a major show of support ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, which has seen Moscow launch a massive assault across frontlines in the east.

Air raid sirens blared across the Ukrainian capital as Biden visited Kyiv, but there were no reports of Russian missile or air strikes.

Biden arrived in the Ukrainian capital a day before President Vladimir Putin was due to make a major address, expected to set out Russia’s aims for the second year of the invasion he launched on Feb 24 last year.

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The anniversary has taken on more than symbolic significance, becoming what the West views as motivation for the war’s deadliest phase as Moscow hurls thousands of conscripts and mercenaries into a winter offensive.

Russia has secured only scant gains so far in assaults in frozen trenches up and down the eastern front in recent weeks. Kyiv and the West see it as a push to give Putin victories to tout, a year after he launched Europe’s biggest war since World War Two. REUTERS