Biden to Have 'Extended' Sit Down With Zelensky at White House: Senior Official

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden will have an extended bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to the White House on Wednesday, a senior US administration official told reporters.

"We wanted to host him [Zelensky] for a program here at the White House that would involve an extended sit down with President Biden, a meeting with key members of President Biden's national security team and cabinet, an opportunity to address the press, and then an opportunity to go up to Capitol Hill to do a joint session of Congress," the US official said.

The White House formally extended an invitation to Zelensky last week to visit Washington on Wednesday, the US official said, adding that Biden and Zelensky will hold a joint press conference.

Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky, during a bilateral meeting on Wednesday, will discuss a range of topics, including battlefield strategy, energy, and sanctions, the official added.

"In the meeting tomorrow, President Biden will have the opportunity with President Zelensky to have an in-depth strategic discussion on the way ahead on the battlefield, on the capabilities and training that the US and our allies will continue to provide to Ukraine, on the sanctions and export controls that we have imposed," the US official said.

Joe Biden will announce $2 billion package in additional security assistance for Ukraine that will include a Patriot missile battery, a senior US administration said.

"Tomorrow, President Biden will announce a significant new package of nearly $2 billion of security assistance for Ukraine," the US official said. "It will contain a very important new capability, a Patriot missile battery, which will be a critical asset."

The United States does not see a diplomatic path in the near term that would end the Ukraine conflict on just terms, the official added.

"We do not see diplomacy that will lead to an end of the war on just terms… [in] the very near-term horizon," the official said.

The United States is going to send a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine as part of a new aid package, and will train Ukrainian forces on how to operate the Patriot in a third country, a senior administration official said.

"[The aid package] will contain a very important new capability, a Patriot missile battery, which will be a critical asset to defend the Ukrainian people... We will train Ukrainian forces on how to operate the Patriot missile battery in a third country," the official said.

Joe Biden will lean further into supporting Ukraine while continuing to avoid direct conflict with Russia, a senior administration official said ahead of Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington.

"The President has been very clear that we are going to lean forward and be robust in our support for Ukraine on the military, economic, energy and humanitarian fronts. But we are not seeking to engage in a direct war with Russia, and nothing about that will change tomorrow," the senior official told reporters.

The Biden administration is committed to keeping US troops out of Ukraine, the official added.