Biden says military aid on way to Ukraine right after Senate approval

EU foreign and defence minister agree Ukraine needs better air defences but stop sort of committing to send Patriot systems to Kiev.

Transcript

00:00 US President Joe Biden has told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky that a $61 billion

00:08 military aid package will be released to Kiev as soon as it's approved by the Senate.

00:16 In a phone call a day after the package was approved by the House of Representatives,

00:21 Biden assured Zelensky that US economic assistance would help maintain financial stability and

00:26 rebuild critical infrastructure.

00:31 Zelensky, who was meeting members of Congress in the capital, Kiev, called the bill "historic."

00:37 "We spoke about how we can rush after the decision, get a package of military support.

00:49 That is crucial for our soldiers on the battlefield."

00:53 Meanwhile, EU foreign and defence ministers meeting in Luxembourg agreed that Ukraine

01:00 needs better air defences, but stopped short of committing to giving Patriot systems to

01:05 the country.

01:08 Representatives said they preferred to focus on the money they're spending to assist Ukraine.

01:12 "I'm sorry, but they don't have patriots here in Brussels.

01:17 The patriots are in the capital, and it's up to them to take the decisions.

01:23 I want to insist that a launcher without interceptors is useless, and certainly interceptors without

01:32 launchers are also useless.

01:35 So we need both things."

01:39 So far, only Germany has given a single Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, something the

01:44 country says it desperately needs to help fend off Russian airstrikes.

01:50 [WHOOSH]