WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden announced more than $8 billion in military assistance for Ukraine on Thursday to help Kyiv "win this war" against Russian invaders, using a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky to make a major commitment. The aid includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81 miles (130 km). The medium-range missile gives Ukraine a major upgrade to the weapons it is using to strike Russian forces, allowing the Ukrainians to do it at safer distances.

The bomb, capable of striking targets with high accuracy, is to be dropped from fighter jets. Biden will not announce that Washington would let Ukraine use US missiles to hit targets deeper in Russia, a US official said. The bulk of the new aid, $5.5 billion, is to be allocated before Monday's end of the US fiscal year. Another $2.4 billion is under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the administration to buy weapons for Ukraine from companies rather than pull them from US stocks.

This will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, unmanned aerial systems and air-to-ground munitions, as well as strengthen Ukraine's defense industrial base and support its maintenance and sustainment requirements, Biden said. Under his plan, the president said, the Defense Department will refurbish and provide Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defense battery and more Patriot missiles. Biden ordered the Pentagon to expand training for Ukrainian F-16 pilots, including by supporting the training of an additional 18 pilots next year.

Republicans slam Zelensky

Before meeting Biden at midday, Zelensky attended meetings with Democratic and Republican lawmakers at the Capitol. He sat down with about two dozen senators from both parties for more than an hour, before going to a separate meeting in the House of Representatives. The visit was much lower-profile than previous trips to Congress. The Senate and House left Washington on Wednesday night until after the November 5 presidential election.

Senator Dick Durbin said Zelensky had presented his plan for victory to the senators and that he supported it. "It's pretty basic, and that is to make sure that the Ukrainians have the momentum going forward, and that requires not only personnel, but equipment and supplies to finish the job," Durbin told reporters. Ukraine's defense has largely received bipartisan support in the US, but his government has faced rising criticism from Republican leaders, including Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate.

Trump has been criticizing the Ukrainian president as he campaigns for the November 5 election and, at least for now, turned down a request from Zelensky for a meeting. The former president was sharply critical of Zelenskyy on Wednesday, telling a campaign rally in North Carolina, "We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelensky."

Trump also blamed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic presidential opponent, for allowing Russia's invasion. Many congressional Republicans have been furious about Zelensky's visit on Sunday to a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Biden grew up. The Republican-led House of Representatives Oversight Committee opened an investigation into Zelensky's trip. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican who was not expected to meet Zelensky on Thursday, demanded that he fire his ambassador to Washington for planning the Scranton trip, although he told reporters this demand was not a threat to oppose military aid. — Reuters