“Ukraine is alive and kicking”, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of the war-wrecked country, told a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday, eliciting thunders of applause and multiple rounds of standing ovation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Directly addressing the American public, he said that Russia stands defeated in “the battle for minds of the world”. Calling it a victory of Americans and Europeans, he declared that “Russian tyranny has lost control over us”. Zelensky’s visit to Washington, his first travels outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February, came as US lawmakers are set to approve a US$1.7 trillion spending bill that will allocate US$45 billion in additional assistance to Ukraine and Nato. “Your money is not charity, it is an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle with utmost responsibility”, he said, adding that he was thankful for the financial and military support but it was “not enough”. He warned that it was “only a matter of time” that Russia, along with its ally Iran, will “strike against your other allies”. Zelensky also thanked US President Joe Biden for backing his 10-point peace formula, which he laid out during the G20 summit in Bali in November. Behind the scenes of Zelensky’s daring 10-hour wartime visit to US The trip was quietly arranged over the past week. The Ukrainian leader travelled by train to Poland, then flew to a military base outside Washington on a US government aircraft, American officials said. His appearance before the joint session of Congress came at the invitation of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , who herself made a secret visit to Ukraine for a meeting with Zelensky in the spring. After arriving at the White House early Wednesday afternoon, Zelensky met with Biden in the Oval Office. Zelensky expressed “all my appreciations from my heart and from the heart of all Ukrainians” to Biden, the Congress and “ordinary people” in the United States for their support. Russian leader Vladimir Putin is “escalating his assaults on civilians” and trying to “use winter as a weapon,” Biden told Zelensky. “We will support Ukraine pursuing a just peace.” Zelensky also gave Biden a medal from a Ukrainian soldier who had asked him to give it to “a very brave president” who had helped save many lives. At a joint press conference afterward, Biden noted that Zelensky’s visit coincided with the 300th day of the “outrageous” war that Russia imposed on “innocent people of Ukraine”. Pledging that the “American people will stay with you as long as it takes”, Biden announced a new US$1.8 billion military aid package that includes the advanced Patriot surface-to-air missile system to bolster Ukraine’s air defence capabilities. The Patriot is capable of bringing down cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and aircraft at a significantly higher ceiling than previously provided air defence systems. The new package brings total US military assistance for Ukraine to US$21.9 billion. While responding to a question on the escalatory effect of sending Patriot battery to Ukraine, Biden described it as a “defensive weapon system”. “We would love to not have to use them at them, just stop the attacks,” he said. The move comes as a wave of Russian drone strikes have targeted Ukraine’s critical civilian infrastructure, leaving around 6 million households without power and water as a bitter winter descends. Zelensky vows victory on Ukraine’s Defenders Day Biden said Russia was purposely “destroying the systems that heat and light Ukrainian people during the coldest and darkest part of the year, freezing and starving people”, adding that the US was working with its allies to help Ukraine make emergency repairs to their power transmission systems. Zelensky said that the war had “started a new phase” of US-Ukraine relations. “We have become real partners and allies,” he said. He added the Patriot system would help “create a secure airspace for Ukraine”. “We need to survive this winter. We need to protect our people. This is a key humanitarian issue for us. This is a survival issue.” According to US intelligence, Russia has been using Iranian-made suicide drones in Ukraine. A new report by the Washington-based non-profit Institute for Science and International Security said Chinese companies have been supplying Iran with “copies of Western commodities to produce UAV combat drones”. Biden pointed out that the US was working with 50 allies and partners worldwide to coordinate efforts to “stand strong with Ukraine”. “I have never seen Nato or the EU more united about anything at all,” he said, emphasising that “Putin thought he could weaken Nato; instead he strengthened Nato.” Commenting on how the war could end, Biden said that while Zelensky remained open to pursuing a “just peace”, Putin had “no intention of stopping”. World Bank approves additional US$610 million Ukraine aid package According to the Pentagon, the US will increase the number of Ukrainian troops being trained at a base in Germany starting next month. Since the war began, Americans have trained more than 3,000 Ukrainian fighters, instructing them on the use of advanced US weapons systems. Last week, Britain’s chief of defence staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said Russia was facing a “critical shortage of artillery munitions”. As per the Pentagon, Russia is firing some shells that were produced during the Soviet era. On the ground, Russia has experienced setbacks, including Ukraine’s recapture of the northern Kharkiv region and the southern city of Kherson in November. Kherson was the only regional capital taken by Russia since February. On Tuesday, Zelensky visited the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut that Russia has vied to annex for months. On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of 🇺🇦. In particular, @POTUS and I will discuss cooperation between 🇺🇦 and 🇺🇸. I will also have a speech at the Congress and a number of bilateral meetings. — Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 21, 2022 This month, the Group of Seven (G7) nations and Australia agreed to a US$60 per barrel price cap on Russian crude oil to limit Moscow’s revenues from selling oil. Europe imported 83 per cent of its natural gas from Russia in 2021, according to the European Council. Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, these imports have gone down by 35 per cent and largely replaced by imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US. So far, the US has jointly issued about 1,500 new and 750 amended sanctions listings with 37 countries against Russia. Also on Wednesday, Putin vowed to improve the “combat readiness” of Russia’s nuclear forces. As the US replenishes Ukraine’s arsenal, Putin said there was “no limit to military spending” in Russia. According to the US Army estimates, the war in Ukraine had killed more than 200,000 military personnel and 40,000 civilians on both sides. When asked at Wednesday’s press conference what he understood of the term “just peace”, Zelensky said: “The longer the war lasts, the longer this aggression lasts, there will be more parents who will live for the sake of vengeance or revenge. So there can’t be any just peace in a war which was imposed on us”.