US President makes surprise visit to Kyiv days before one-year anniversary of Russian invasion

US President Joe Biden made an unexpected visit to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, marking his first visit to the country since Russia's invasion almost a year ago.

The visit comes ahead of the anniversary of Russia's invasion on 24 February, and as tensions continue to rise in the region.

Biden spent over five hours in Kyiv, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Mariinsky Palace. This visit comes ahead of a three-day visit to Poland, where he is due to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

During his time in Kyiv, Biden discussed the ongoing conflict with Zelenskyy and expressed support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He also announced that the US will offer an additional half-billion dollars in assistance to Ukraine, inclding anti-tank missiles, air surveillance radars and shells for howitzers.

At the same time, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels are discussing how best to ensure that Ukrainian forces have the necessary ammunition to defend themselves. The UK intelligence report also reveals that Russian forces have sustained "very high losses" in their assault on the eastern town of Vuhledar.

Other western leaders have travelled to Kyiv since the start of the war, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and then Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. They traveled together by night train to Kyiv in June 2022 to meet with Zelenskyy.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Kyiv in November 2022, shortly after taking office.

This is Biden's first trip to a conflict zone as President of the United States. Recent former presidents, including Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George Bush, made surprise vitis to Afghanistan and Iraq during their tenure to meet with American troops and country leaders.