Watch full speech here:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told the US Congress the tens of billions of dollars of aid it had approved to help it fight a Russian invasion was not charity, but an investment in global security.
In his first visit out of his country since the war began in February, Zelenskiy told lawmakers in the soaring House of Representatives chamber on Wednesday that he hoped they would continue to support Ukraine on a bipartisan basis - a major point as Republicans are due to take the majority in the House on January 3.
"Your money is not charity," Zelenskiy said, clad in the khaki fatigues that have been his public uniform throughout the 300 days of conflict. "It is an investment in the global security and democracy."
Following a meeting at the White House with Democratic President Joe Biden, Zelenskiy's speech needed to resonate with House Republicans, who have voiced increasing scepticism about continuing to send so much aid to Ukraine.
Zelenskiy's arrival was greeted with multiple raucous ovations in the nearly full chamber. Three members held up a large Ukrainian flag as he walked in.
"It is a great honour for me to be at the US Congress and speak to you and all Americans. Against all doom and gloom scenarios, Ukraine did not fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking.
"We defeated Russia in the battle for the minds of the world," he said.
House members and senators from both parties leaped repeatedly to their feet to cheer parts of Zelenskiy's speech in English such as, "Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender," as he likened his country's battle against Moscow's forces to great battles of World War Two and even the American Revolution.
There are no signs of peace talks to end the war and both Russia and Ukraine have signalled a willingness to keep fighting, although Zelenskiy said he discussed a 10-point Ukrainian peace formula with Biden.
"I'm glad that President Biden supported our peace initiative today. Each of you today ladies and gentlemen can assist in the implementation to ensure that American leadership remains solid, bicameral, and bipartisan," Zelenskiy said to the lawmakers.
Purse strings
Planning for Zelenskiy's speech began in October, according to an aide to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when she met with Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairman of Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. Pelosi was attending the First Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform in Zagreb, Croatia, at the time.
Exactly 300 days after Russian troops invaded and amid intensified rocket attacks that have left Ukrainian cities in ruins, Zelenskiy arrived knowing that the Senate and House control America's purse strings.
His timing was perfect, as Congress is on the verge of approving an additional $US44.9 billion ($NZ71.2 billion) in new emergency military and economic assistance, on top of some $US50 billion already sent to Ukraine this year.
Daniel Fried, former US ambassador to Poland and a fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Zelenskiy's trip demonstrated that he and Biden share a belief that the United States, despite its faults, is leader of the free world.
Zelenskiy, Fried said, "didn’t go to Berlin, Brussels, London or Paris" for his first trip abroad since the start of the war.
The 44-year-old Zelenskiy, a former comedian and actor, also visited Washington on a day that the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed a new ambassador to Russia.
The optics of Zelenskiy's welcome as a defender of democracy carried a message far deeper than military aid. It was meant to signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States and its NATO allies remain steadfastly behind Ukraine, despite recent signs of impatience among some Republican lawmakers over the rising cost.
For Zelenskiy, whose wartime olive fatigues have become globally recognised, the House overlooked a rule that normally requires men to wear a jacket and tie inside the chamber.
$2.93b in new military aid
The United States will provide US$1.85 billion (NZ$2.93b) in additional military assistance for Ukraine, including a transfer of the Patriot Air Defence System, President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today.
The Patriot system is "a defensive system, it's not escalatory, it's defensive" Biden said in a joint news briefing with Zelenskiy. "We'd love not to have them used, just stop the attacks."
The assistance includes a $US1 billion drawdown to provide Ukraine with "expanded air defence and precision-strike capabilities" and $US850 million in security assistance, Blinken said in a separate statement.
The Patriot is considered to be one of the most advanced US air defence systems and offers protection against aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles. It typically includes launchers along with radar and other support vehicles.
Zelenskiy on Wednesday said the US promise to provide the Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system was an important step in creating an effective air shield.
Russia said last week that US plans to supply Patriot missile defence systems to Ukraine were a "provocation" and a further expansion of US military involvement in the Ukraine conflict. The Kremlin had said that if delivered, US Patriot missile defence systems would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes against Ukraine.
"Today's assistance for the first time includes the Patriot Air Defence System, capable of bringing down cruise missiles, short range ballistic missiles, and aircraft at a significantly higher ceiling than previously provided air defence systems," Blinken said in the statement released by the US State Department.
The Pentagon said the aid package would also include ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), precision-guided artillery rounds and precision aerial munitions.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the United States has committed about $US21.2 billion in military assistance to Kyiv.
Zelenskiy said earlier that his US visit was meant to strengthen Ukraine's "resilience and defence capabilities" amid repeated Russian missile and drone attacks on the country's energy and water supplies in the dead of winter.
