Joe Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine ahead of first war anniversary

The Ukraine visit comes at a crucial moment in the war as Biden looks to keep allies unified in their support for Ukraine as the war is expected to intensify with both sides preparing for spring offensives.

United States President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, marking his first trip to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion.

Biden has announced that Ukraine will get new military and aid package worth $500 million.

Biden said 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.

"One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands," Biden said.

"RF will surely lose. Putin & his entourage will be tried. Ukraine will get all weapons it needs. No compromises," he added.

The Ukraine visit comes at a crucial moment in the war as Biden looks to keep allies unified in their support for Ukraine as the war is expected to intensify with both sides preparing for spring offensives.

Zelenskyy is pressing allies to speed up delivery of pledged weapon systems and is calling on the West to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine - something that Biden to date has declined to do.

Biden's mission with his visit to Kyiv - and then Warsaw - is to underscore that the United States is prepared to stick with Ukraine "as long as it takes" to repel Russian forces even as public opinion polling suggests that US and allied support for providing weaponry and direct economic assistance has started to soften.

The visit also gives Biden an opportunity to get a firsthand look at the devastation the Russian invasion has caused on Ukraine.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops and civilians have been killed, millions of refugees have fled the war, and Ukraine has suffered tens of billions of dollars of infrastructure damage. The trip also marks an act of defiance against Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had hoped his military would swiftly overrun Kyiv within days.

A year later, the Ukrainian capital stands and a semblance of normalcy has returned to the city as the fighting has concentrated in the country's east, punctuated by cruise missile and drone attacks against military and civilian infrastructure.

Biden also got a short first-hand taste of the terror that Ukrainians have lived with for close to a year, as air raids sirens howled over the capital just as he and Zelenskyy were exiting a cathedral they visited together. Looking solemn, they continued unperturbed to stand in front of a wall honouring Ukrainian soldiers killed since 2014.

The US military does not have a presence in Ukraine other than a small detachment of Marines guarding the embassy in Kyiv, making Biden's visit more complicated than other recent visits by prior US leaders to war zones.

Ukraine's President Zelensky has termed US President Joe Biden's visit to Kyiv is 'extremely important sign of support for all Ukrainians'.

with PTI inputs