US President Joe Biden announced today, Wednesday, that his country will provide large additional military aid to Ukraine worth one billion dollars, and this comes after Kyiv demanded to speed up providing it with heavy weapons to confront the Russian supremacy on the ground, while the deadline set by Moscow for the Ukrainians defending the city of Severodonetsk in the Donbass region expired ( east) to surrender.

Biden said in a statement that he had informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of this additional assistance, which is the largest US military assistance to Kiev given in one go.

He added that this new aid includes artillery pieces, missiles and surface-to-sea missiles, noting that part of it aims to support Ukraine's defensive operations in the Donbass region.

The US President also announced that his country has decided to provide additional humanitarian aid to Ukraine, amounting to 225 million dollars.

And US officials said earlier today that the additional shipments of American weapons include anti-ship missiles and howitzers, while Bloomberg Agency (Bloomberg) reported that the United States will provide Ukraine with Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

Austin with US Chief of Staff Mark Milley (left) and his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov in Brussels (European News Agency)

ramp up supplies

In Brussels, NATO Defense Ministers held a meeting today to discuss sending more heavy weapons to Ukraine.

At the beginning of the meeting, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called on Western countries to intensify arms deliveries to Ukraine in order to confront Russia.

Work is underway to meet Ukraine's demands for heavy and long-range weapons, Austin said, adding that Ukrainian forces are using the latest military aid to defend Donbass.

The US secretary added that he discussed with allies the importance of artillery systems in enhancing Ukraine's long-term capabilities, and that they are aware of the dangers Ukraine faces, while Russia renews its attacks on Donbass.

And Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said Ukraine was under threat and that they would continue to support it.

For his part, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced today that London will soon deliver Kyiv multiple missile launchers.

In turn, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stressed today, Wednesday, that the alliance countries took urgent action to provide Ukraine with modern heavy weapons, noting that "the transition from Soviet-era equipment to modern NATO equipment requires the willingness of Ukrainians to use them."

On Tuesday, Stoltenberg said that Ukraine needed heavy and long-range weapons to defeat Russia in the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his country's western partners to expedite the dispatch of heavy weapons so that his forces could repel the continuing Russian advance on several fronts, especially in the Donbas region, and described the delay in sending arms shipments as unjustified.

According to Hana Maliar, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine, her country has received only about 10% of the weapons it needs, without which it will not be able to win this war that Russia started on February 24.


Moscow warns

In Moscow, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council warned that providing weapons to Ukraine by the West would prolong the conflict and cause more casualties.

The Russian official said that the dialogue between Russia and Ukraine had stopped due to what he described as the destructive behavior of Washington, London and their allies.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces had destroyed, with Kalibr missiles, a weapons depot in the western Lviv province that Ukraine had obtained from NATO countries.

The ministry added that the warehouse contained American-made M777 howitzers, and said that its forces also destroyed large quantities of American and European weapons during targeting 3 railway stations in Dnepropetrovsk and Donetsk.


Donbass battles

On the ground, the deadline set by Moscow for the Ukrainians holed up in an Azot plant in the city of Severodonetsk in the Donbass region to surrender expired today, Wednesday.

About 500 Ukrainians - including soldiers - are holed up in underground vaults in the huge chemical "Azot" in Severodonetsk, most of which are now controlled by Russian forces.

Ukraine acknowledged the withdrawal of its forces from the city center, and confirmed that Russian forces had destroyed all bridges leading to Lyschansk, located on the opposite bank of the Donets River, while Oleksandr Stryuk, the mayor of Severodonetsk, confirmed that Ukrainian forces continue to defend it and that it was not completely isolated.

Yesterday, Moscow offered Russia to establish a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians to lands under Russian control, and urged the Ukrainians defending the city to stop the resistance.

Zelensky warned Europeans that Russia has big regional ambitions (European News Agency)

Tougher penalties

Politically, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Wednesday the European Union to tighten the European Union's sanctions on Russia, which since the start of the war on Ukraine has been subjected to 6 rounds of sanctions.

Zelensky also called on the union to allow his country to set out on the path to joining the bloc, warning that Russia's regional ambitions extend from Warsaw to Sofia.

Ukraine is awaiting a decision from the European Union by June 24 on its request to obtain the status of an official candidate country to join the Union, which will mark the beginning of a negotiation mechanism that may take years.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, is expected to arrive with German Chancellor Olaf Schultz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Thursday in Kyiv, according to German and Italian media.

This will be the first visit of its kind by the leaders of the 3 largest economic powers in Europe since the start of the Russian invasion.

The French president defended during a press conference held in a military base in Romania his constant call for negotiations with Russia.

A statement by the French presidency said that Macron discussed with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis Russia's war on Ukraine and the resulting destabilization of the region and the European continent.