A new US weapons package for Ukraine was announced on Wednesday in co-ordination with Berlin.
President Joe Biden said that he intends to send about 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine to help fight Russia's invasion, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying he would send military equipment as well.
In a joint statement, Mr Biden and Mr Scholz expressed the importance of continuing “to provide the necessary financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine for as long as needed”.
“To this end, the United States intends to supply Ukraine with Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and Germany intends to provide Ukraine with Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles,” the statement continued.
“Both countries plan to train Ukrainian forces on the respective systems.”
Full details of the latest security package for Ukraine were expected to be unveiled on Friday.
The aid — totalling about $2.85 billion — is the largest in a series of packages of military equipment that the Pentagon has pulled from its stockpiles to send to Ukraine.
It is aimed at getting as many supplies to Ukrainian forces as possible during the winter months, before spring sets in and an expected increase in fighting begins.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presents a flag to Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Reuters -
Ms Pelosi gives a US flag to Mr Zelenskyy. AFP -
Mr Zelenskyy addresses a joint meeting of the US Congress. Reuters -
The Ukraine President received standing ovations from US politicians throughout his address. AP -
Mr Zelenskyy's script for his speech. Reuters -
Mr Zelenskyy arrives to speak. Bloomberg -
Mr Zelenskyy and US President Joe Biden share a light-hearted moment during their briefing at the White House. AP -
Mr Biden listens as Mr Zelenskyy speaks. AP -
Mr Zelenskyy in the White House with Mr Biden on Wednesday. AP -
Mr Zelenskyy presents Mr Biden with a Ukrainian soldier's award in the Oval Office. AFP -
The Bidens welcome Mr Zelenskyy on his first visit since Russia's invasion on February 24. Bloomberg -
Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Biden walk the grounds of the White House. Reuters -
The US authorised another $1.85 billion military aid package to Ukraine before Mr Zelenskyy arrived. AP -
Mr Biden wore a blue and yellow tie, the colours of the Ukrainian flag, for Mr Zelenskyy's visit. AP -
Mr Biden and Mr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Wednesday. AP -
Mr Biden welcomes Mr Zelenskyy to the White House. AP -
Mr Zelenskyy's vehicle arrives at the White House in Washington. AP -
Mr Zelenskyy arrives in Washington. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / Reuters -
Ukrainian ambassador Oksana Markarova greets Mr Zelenskyy on his arrival. EPA
The Bradley is an armoured vehicle with a powerful gun and has been used as a staple by the US Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.
Late last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the US Congress that the tens of billions of dollars in aid it had approved to help Ukraine combat the Russian invasion was not charity, but an investment in global security.
The US has already sent about $21.3 billion in security assistance to Kyiv as Europe's biggest land conflict since 1945 grinds on, killing tens of thousands.
Ukraine has also repeatedly asked for Germany's Leopard 2 battle tanks in its fight against Russia.
Ukraine latest — in pictures
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A building burned from a strike as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bakhmut. Reuters -
Antonina, a refugee from Bakhmut in Donetsk region, with dogs she rescued in Izyum, Kharkiv. AFP -
A resident gives her neighbours hot food brought by volunteers in Izyum. AFP -
A Ukrainian soldier salutes as he works to build a bunker with sand in Bakhmut. Reuters -
Volodymyr Kovalov, 77, carries tree branches attached to his bike as he collects wood for heating and cooking in Kherson region. AFP -
A local resident takes pictures of a destroyed monastery in Dolyna, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A decoy dummy made with the clothes of a Russian soldier at the entrance of a destroyed cinema in Kamyanka, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Destroyed houses in the city of Kamyanka. AFP -
Caesar, 50, a Russian who joined the Freedom of Russia Legion to fight on the side of Ukraine, stands in front of a destroyed monastery in Dolyna. AFP -
An employee stands next to a shelter at a stainless pipes plant in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region. AFP -
Ivan and Iryna Kalinin before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Iryna, who was pregnant, was killed in a Russian air strike on Mariupol's maternity hospital. Ivan returned to the occupied city to rebury his wife and baby. AP -
Natalia, 67, sits inside her house that was damaged in a Russian military strike, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers ride in a military vehicle in Bakhmut, a city in the Donetsk enclave. AP -
Smoke billows from a building on fire after a Russian attack in Bakhmut. AP -
Sasha and her grandfather stand outside their home in Bakhmut. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers set up a barricade in Bakhmut. AP -
Nastya carries her cat as her mother Anna says goodbye to neighbours with whom they lived for months in a basement during Russian attacks in Soledar, a city in the Donetsk enclave of Ukraine. AP -
Anna and Nastya in the basement during a Russian attack nearby. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier is wheeled on a stretcher at a hospital in the Donetsk enclave. AP -
A woman looks a building damaged by Russian shelling in Kherson. AFP -
Oleksandra Koshkina, 85, sits in a car as she returns to her village of Torske, in the Donetsk enclave. Reuters -
A resident of Bakhmut walks along an empty street. Reuters -
A street market in Bakhmut. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier poses for a picture in the Donetsk enclave. Reuters -
Officials tend to a patient on a plane carrying Ukrainian Jewish refugees as they wait to disembark at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. AFP
Agencies contributed to this report
