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Group of Seven leaders including US President Joe Biden will hold a video call on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said.
Talks will focus on the latest developments in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, efforts to bolster the country and ways to demonstrate “continued G7 unity in our collective response, including by imposing severe costs for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war”, a representative of the White House's National Security Council said.
The leaders of the G7 countries — which include the US, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy — will hold their virtual meeting with Mr Zelenskyy, with the US hosting, the representative added.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the timing of the session was significant because it will take place a day before Mr Putin participates in Victory Day.
The holiday on Monday marks the end of the Second World War and will include military parades across Russia.
“While he expected to be marching through the streets of Kyiv, that certainly is not going to happen,” she said.
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A Russian artillery vehicle is driven along Tverskaya Street towards Red Square to attend a rehearsal for the May 9 Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia. AP -
Russian soldiers march in their rehearsal for the parade, that will celebrate the 77th anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany. AFP -
Muscovites watch Russian heavy weapons make their way to Red Square. EPA -
A Russian artilleryman in his vehicle on Tverskaya Street. EPA -
Onlookers watch the heavy military vehicles drive through Moscow. EPA -
Russian soldiers clean their vehicle before the rehearsal. AP -
A Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system on its way to Red Square. AP -
Self-propelled artillery vehicles, tanks and pther military vehicles gather on Tverskaya Street for the parade rehearsal. AP -
A column of Russian S-400 Triumf missile systems drives along the Garden Ring road towards Red Square. AFP -
Armoured cars fly the red flag. AP -
Russian Ilyushin IL-76MD military transport planes fly over Red Square during a rehearsal for a flypast as part of the victory parade. AFP -
Russian Ilyushin IL-76MD military transport planes fly over Red Square during a rehearsal for a flypast as part of the victory parade. AFP -
Russian Tu-22M3 bombers fly in formation above a church in Moscow. Reuters -
Russian Su-25 jet aircraft release smoke in the colours of the Russian state flag during the rehearsal for the flypast. Reuters
Mr Biden is expected to sign a new weapons package worth at least $100 million for Ukraine as soon as Friday or this weekend, several US officials told Reuters and CNN.
The president later confirmed in a White House statement on Friday his intent to send additional security assistance, saying: "I am announcing another package of security assistance that will provide additional artillery munitions, radars, and other equipment to Ukraine."
The president did not share a dollar amount for the new shipment, but said his "administration has nearly exhausted funding that can be used" without needing approval from Congress.
The unidentified officials who spoke to media oulets about the latest package said it would likely include more munitions for systems such as the howitzers. The Pentagon says it has already sent about 184,000 artillery rounds.
The US has already rushed $3.4 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine, including howitzers, anti-aircraft Stinger systems, anti-tank Javelin missiles, ammunition and body armour.
Ms Psaki also said US officials are discussing imposing more sanctions on Russian oligarchs and companies as well as taking steps to that ensure Russians who have been previously sanctioned cannot evade them.
The US and its allies have come together on a host of sweeping sanctions on Russian banks, officials and other entities aimed at punishing Moscow for its actions in Ukraine, including reported war crimes.
Russia characterises its invasion as a “special operation” aimed at demilitarising and “denazifying” Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Mr Biden said he planned to discuss potential additional measures against Moscow for its war in Ukraine, noting that the US is always open to more sanctions.
“I'll be speaking with the members of the G7 this week about what we're going to do or not do,” he told reporters this week, after the EU proposed its toughest sanctions yet against Russia, including a phased oil embargo.
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Family members mourn at the graveside of soldier Yuri Varyanytsia during the burial of three soldiers in the Field of Mars at Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images -
A pedestrian takes a picture as she walks past the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle outside the National Museum of Military History of Ukraine in Kyiv. AFP -
A man rides his bicycle over a heavily damaged bridge near Pechenegi village in the Kharkiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP -
Pro-Russian troops fire from a tank near the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Reuters -
Workers sew uniforms and material for flack jackets at a military clothing factory in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Getty Images -
A dog provides company at a flat damaged by a missile attack in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Patron, a dog trained by Ukrainian forces to sniff out explosives, near Kyiv. EPA -
Lone skater Roman Kovalenko, 18, amid the damage at Peace Square in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. All of his friends have fled. AFP -
A Ukrainian sapper carries unexploded materiel during demining works at an airport in the town of Hostomel, north-west of Kyiv. AFP -
Shelling of the Azovstal steel plant complex in Mariupol. Reuters -
Violinist Irene Duval rehearses before a fundraiser to support Ukrainians arriving in the UK, at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London. PA -
A serviceman stands guard at the destroyed Ukrainian Antonov An-225 'Mriya' cargo aircraft in Hostomel. AFP -
Galina Malets falls to her knees before the funeral service for her brother, fallen soldier Igor Malets, 59, in Lviv. Getty -
Explosions at the Azovstal steel plant in besieged Mariupol, where Ukrainian forces continue to hold out against Russian invaders. AFP -
A Ukrainian woman collects her belongings after her apartment was damaged by a missile explosion in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
An apartment block damaged by a missile explosion in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Devastation around an apartment block hit by a missile in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Ukrainian men at the site of a missile explosion in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
An elderly refugee from Avdiivka, eastern Ukraine, at a lunch provided by church group Awakening in Pokrovsk. AFP -
Natalia Rudneva, 59, was injured in overnight shelling in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, that put her son in hospital. AP -
Shocked occupants of an apartment building in Kramatorsk, Donbas, that was destroyed by overnight shelling . AP -
A man outside his house in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine. The sign reads 'Bomb shelter, children'. AP -
A woman passes Donetsk People's Republic militia tanks in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine. AP -
A refugee camp outside Mariupol, in territory controlled by the government of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. AP -
The damaged St Godmothers Cover Church next to a bullet-riddled Ukrainian flag in Malyn, Ukraine. Getty Images -
St Godmothers Cover Church, in Malyn, Ukraine. Getty Images -
The ruins of an apartment building in Borodianka, Ukraine. Getty Images -
Firefighters from the self-declared Donetsk People Republic Emergency Situations Ministry battle a blaze at an oil depot after missiles struck the facility in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Makiivka, 15 kilometres east of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. AP -
People wait for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to begin a speech televised on a screen in City Hall Square in Copenhagen, Denmark. Reuters -
An aerial view of the destroyed Hotel Ukraine in the northern city of Chernigiv. AFP -
A woman who recently lost her husband arrives with her dog at a charity centre in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A family of Ukrainian evacuees near a donation collection point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Reuters -
The ruins of a residential building in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigiv, which was heavily damaged during the Russian invasion. AFP -
People pay their respects during the funeral for Ukrainian serviceman Ruslan Borovyk in St Michael's Cathedral in Kyiv. AP -
Crew chiefs and engineers with the 158th Fighter Wing meet before launching F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation aircraft at the Vermont Air National Guard Base, South Burlington, US. More than 200 Vermont air guard personnel, plus equipment and eight F-35s, are now in Europe. AP -
Svitlana, 36, holds her sons Artem, 7, and Kyrylo, 5, while sheltering in a kindergarten in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Getty Images -
Men report to enlist in Ukrainian Territorial Defence Force units in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Getty Images -
A burning oil storage unit on the outskirts of Donetsk, Ukraine. Reuters -
Russian MiG-29SMT jet fighters, forming the symbol Z in support of Russian military action in Ukraine, fly over Red Square in Moscow during a rehearsal for the Second World War Victory Parade on May 9, 2022. AFP -
A warehouse after shelling in Severodonetsk, as fighting rages across Ukraine's east after a US warning that Moscow is preparing to formally annex eastern regions. AFP -
Katya, 11, waits for her mother's treatment to end at the Severodonetsk Hospital in Severodonetsk. AFP -
Antonina, 60, at a funeral home where she works and now lives with neighbours in Severodonetsk. AFP -
A Russian serviceman patrols a street near the sea port of Berdyansk, Ukraine. AFP -
A woman during the rally in front of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office in Kyiv. AFP -
Svitlana Karpenko, 53, at what is left of her house in Sloboda, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. She said it was destroyed by shelling. Reuters -
The turret from a destroyed Russian tank stuck in the ground in Zalissia, Kyiv region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Lyubov Lenko, 61, in front of her house in Budy, Chernihiv region, Ukraine, that she says was destroyed by shelling. Reuters -
Nina Stefuryak, 2, playing in a park in front of a building destroyed by shelling in Borodianka, Kyiv region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Mealtime at a centre for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia. AP -
Volunteers assist a man after his arrival from Mariupol at a centre for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia. AP -
People disembark a van to be registered by police after arriving in Zaporizhzhia. Getty Images -
Firefighters damp down the ashes of a fire that destroyed a children's play area in Gorky Park in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA -
A woman touches a piano as she inspects the damage in a classroom after shelling at Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts. EPA -
US President Joe Biden and Lockheed Martin chief executive Jim Taiclet with Javelin anti-tank missile assembly workers during a tour of a Lockheed Martin weapons factory in Troy, Alabama, US. Reuters -
Residents collect humanitarian aid in Borodyanka, Ukraine. Getty Images
Reuters contributed to this report
