US president Joe Biden has arrived in Kyiv for his first visit to the embattled country since Russia invaded almost one year ago.
The surprise visit, accompanied by the blare of a nationwide air-raid alert, comes after Mr Biden travelled to Poland to meet president Andrzej Duda.
Mr Biden said Washington would stand with Ukraine as long as it takes, while Mr Zelensky replied: “Your visit is an extremely important sign of support for all Ukrainians.”
It follows fresh intelligence suggesting Vladimir Putin was pushing for a symbolic victory to mark the one-year anniversary of the conflict.
“Specifically, the ‘elite’ 155th and 40th Naval Infantry Brigades have sustained very high losses in Vuhledar and are likely combat ineffective,” the UK Ministry of Defence said today in its latest intelligence update.
Elsewhere, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko has urged the rest of the world not to forget that the conflict in Ukraine does not only affect the former Soviet nation.
“Please don’t forget, we’re talking about nuclear weapons. An explosion could touch everyone on our planet, and that is why we have to do everything we can to stop this war,” he told Canadian news channel CTV.
