(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is travelling to the United States on Wednesday to meet President Joe Biden, address Congress and seek “weapons, weapons and more weapons” in his first overseas trip 300 days since Russia invaded its neighbour.
DIPLOMACY
* Zelenskiy’s aide said the “highly symbolic” trip will disprove Russian attempts to show that U.S.-Ukrainian relations are cooling.
* Zelenskiy will meet Biden and top national security aides at the White House, participate in a joint news conference with the U.S. president, and then address a joint session of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
* Biden will announce nearly $2 billion in new military assistance for Ukraine, a senior U.S. official said.
* The U.S. Senate has advanced a government-funding bill that includes $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies.
* The World Bank said it had approved an additional financing package totalling $610 million to address urgent relief and recovery needs in Ukraine.
* China hopes all parties in the Ukraine crisis will maintain restraint and resolve security concerns through political means, President Xi Jinping told Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the United Russia party, during a meeting in Beijing, Chinese state media Xinhua reported.
CONFLICT
* President Vladimir Putin will make an important, substantive speech later on Wednesday when he meets his defence chiefs for an end-of-year meeting to assess the progress of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
* Zelenskiy paid a surprise visit to the frontline city of Bakhmut on Tuesday, where he hailed the “superhuman” troops waging a battle that has come to symbolise the grinding brutality of the war.
* Reuters was not able to independently verify battlefield reports.
POWER SUPPLY
* Ukraine’s power grid operator, Ukrenergo, reported a “significant power shortage” and restrictions caused by missile and drone attacks. “At night, the enemy again shelled the de-occupied areas in the east and south with artillery, which damaged the power grids,” it said on Telegram. “Repair works have already started.”
* Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Ukrainians on Tuesday they should prepare for new Russian attacks on its energy grid because Moscow wanted Ukrainians to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays in darkness.
* Eastern European countries that border Ukraine and some still have hardware compatible with that used by Ukraine’s grid play a critical role in keeping its power on.
(Compiled by Himani Sarkar and Tomasz Janowski)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.