February 20, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

US President Joe Biden has said he visited Kyiv to reaffirm the United States' "unwavering" support for Ukraine, announcing new military aid and a fresh swath of sanctions on the historic trip.

"As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, I am in Kyiv today to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

The President confirmed another donation of US military equipment, and said that later this week his government "would announce additional sanctions against elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill Russia’s war machine."

Biden is set to visit Poland later this week as he marks the anniversary of Russia's invasion.

President Joe Biden announced a half-billion dollars of additional assistance to Ukraine during a surprise visit to Ukraine on Monday.

Biden, in joint remarks alongside Ukrainian President Zelensky, said the package would include more military equipment, including artillery ammunition, more javelins and Howitzers.

Zelensky said he and Biden spoke about “long range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine even though it wasn’t supplied before.” 

In remarks, Biden spoke about the resilience of the Ukrainian resistance as the war enters its second year.

Biden met with Zelensky, as well as first lady Olena Zelenska, at Kyiv's presidential palace on Monday.

The historic visit comes just days before the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited US President Joe Biden to visit Kyiv months ago, saying he believed it was important for the US leader to see the situation up close.

As recently as last week, Zelensky said his invitation for Biden to visit Ukraine remained open.

"President Biden and I meet occasionally. You know that we have invited the President. I think he will be happy to visit Ukraine if he has the opportunity. That would be an important signal to support our nation,” Zelensky said on February 15.

Zelensky traveled to Washington in December to meet Biden in the Oval Office and speak to a joint session of Congress — his first trip outside Ukraine since the war began.

US President Joe Biden has made a surprise visit to Ukraine early Monday — his first trip to the country since Russia’s invasion began nearly one year ago.

Biden's trip is a show of support for Kyiv that comes at a critical moment in the conflict, as Russia prepares for an expected spring offensive. 

Air raid sirens were activated across Ukraine on Monday morning, including in the capital Kyiv, the country’s authorities and CNN teams on the ground reported. 

“Please proceed to the shelters!” authorities in Kyiv said in their official Telegram channel.

China's Foreign Ministry on Monday said the United States "is not qualified to lecture" on the supplying of arms amid concerns from US officials that Beijing is considering providing "lethal support" to Russia's military.

Speaking to reporters, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: "It is the US side, not the Chinese side, that supplies a steady stream of weapons to the battlefield."

"Who is calling for dialogue and peace and who is handing out knives and encouraging confrontation?"

Wang added that China continues to "urge peace and promote talks" to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and that it stands firmly on "playing a constructive role in promoting the de-escalation and cooling down the situation."

Some context: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday he has concerns that Beijing is considering stepping up its partnership with Moscow by supplying Russia's military with “lethal support.” Blinken raised the issue when he met with China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday, officials said.

CNN previously reported that the US has begun seeing “disturbing” trendlines of late in China’s support for Russia’s military, and there are signs that Beijing wants to “creep up to the line” of providing lethal military aid to Russia without getting caught, according to US officials familiar with the intelligence.

The officials would not describe in detail what intelligence the US has seen suggesting a recent shift in China’s posture but said US officials have been concerned enough that they shared the intelligence with allies and partners.

The words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hours after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion on February 24, 2022.

They were prophetic. Many analysts expected Ukrainian resistance to crumble in days. But for a year, the Ukrainian military has faced down a much larger force, rolling back the Russians’ initial gains in Kharkiv and Kherson, holding the line in the hotly contested Donbas region.

In the process the Ukrainians have inflicted stunning losses on the Russian army, and laid bare the outmoded tactics, stale leadership and brittle morale of a force more impressive on parade than on the battlefield.

By contrast, Ukrainian units have proved nimble and adaptive, harnessing drone technology, decentralized command and smart operational planning to exploit their enemy’s systemic weaknesses.

And few would have bet that one year into this war, the vintage Ukrainian air force would still be flying.

Read the full analysis here.

US President Joe Biden is heading to Poland for a two-day visit to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, returning to the region as the war enters a volatile new phase without a clear path to peace.

Biden will arrive in Warsaw on Tuesday where he will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda, the White House said in a statement Sunday.

One year ago, Biden was urgently warning a sometimes-skeptical world that a massive buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine's borders was the precursor to war. At the time, even some inside his own government questioned the ability of the Ukrainians to withstand an invasion, predicting the imminent fall of the capital Kyiv.

Instead, Ukrainian fighters have held the capital and continue to resist Russian attempts to control territory, helped by a massive influx of Western weapons, ammunition and equipment. The war has become a grinding conflict that US officials say could last for months or even years.

It has come to shape Biden's foreign policy, the fallout reverberating in the global economy and leading to newfound unity between the United States and its European allies.

Biden's aides have been planning for several weeks how they will mark the anniversary of the invasion, including potentially a major address. They hope to emphasize the resilience of the Ukrainian people while stressing the importance of unity in the uncertain months ahead.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is currently preparing for an expected Russian offensive in the spring, appealing to Western governments for additional assistance and weaponry to help sustain the fight.

A year into Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the US has seen enough.

The declaration marks the strongest accusation yet from the US as it seeks to punish Moscow for its war of aggression.

The US government declared last March that members of the Russian armed forces had committed war crimes in Ukraine. President Joe Biden has gone as far as saying that atrocities at the hands of Moscow’s troops qualify as “genocide.”

While the “crimes against humanity” determination is significant, it remains largely symbolic for now. It does not immediately trigger any specific consequences, nor does it give the US the ability to prosecute Russians involved with perpetrating crimes.

However, it could provide international bodies, such as the International Criminal Court, with evidence to effectively try to prosecute those crimes.

Read the full analysis here.