Biden has ‘no plans’ to visit Ukraine: White House

Washington [US]: US President Joe Biden has no plans to visit Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Monday (local time).

“There are no plans for the President to go,” Psaki said regarding the Biden administration’s plans to send a high-level US official to Kiev soon.

The US earlier had announced to provide Ukraine with an additional 800 million US dollars’ worth of military aid including heavy artillery as Washington anticipated a “wider assault” by Russia in eastern Ukraine.

Today, Washington has sent four planes loaded with security assistance to Ukraine over the weekend and made one more delivery on Monday, as per Psaki.

“There were four planes that arrived of military assistance over the course of the weekend, another one is supposed to arrive today if it hasn’t already from the US 800 million package the President announced,” Psaki said during a press briefing on Monday.

The United States remains the largest supplier of military aid to Ukraine among the 30 allies supporting the country.

Washington has committed more than USD 3.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. Approximately USD 2.6 billion of the total amount was approved since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine at the end on February, according to the Defense Department.

The US military assistance includes lethal weapons such as Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Javelin anti-armor systems, Howitzers and artillery rounds, Mi-17 helicopters, small arms and ammunition, drones, radar devices, among other equipment, according to Sputnik.

On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops.