Ukraine-Russia war latest: US to send weapons to Ukraine 'within next few hours' as Biden signs massive aid package into law

Joe Biden was enjoying a "hard-earned victory lap" after signing a bill sending tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine, said US correspondent James Matthews. 

This has been a political triumph in terms of pushing the legislation through congress in the face of "hard-right opposition", he explained.

The president positioned himself as the "leader of the indispensable nation, leading a fight for democracy against tyranny", said Matthews.

"Biden knows that this isn't the end of the story for Ukraine and American aid to Ukraine: there will be other negotiations further down the line.

"He and Ukraine will need to demonstrate there is value in American funds being channelled to that particular fight."

Matthews added that with an eye on the election, Mr Biden was trying to present himself to the public as the deal-maker who gets results.

Joe Biden has signed a bill providing £49bn in aid for Ukraine.

Speaking at the White House, the president says the path to his desk was difficult but in the end America "rose to the moment".

"Now we need to move fast," he says, adding equipment will be sent "within the next few hours".

This includes "equipment for air defence munitions, for artillery, for rocket systems and armoured vehicles".

He attacks MAGA Republicans for delaying the bill while Russia ramped up airstrikes against Ukrainian cities and "brave Ukrainians".

Russia has picked out and bombed hospitals, kindergartens, grain silos and the Ukrainian power grid, he says.

The Ukrainian fightback has been "amazing", says the president.

"They are a fighting force with the will and skill to win."

The president continues: "America is going to send them the help they need to keep them in the fight."

This is an investment "in our own security", says Mr Biden, and to prevent US being drawn into war.

"If Putin triumphs in Ukraine, the next move for Russian forces could very well be a direct attack on a NATO ally."

He adds: "We would have no choice but to come to their aid."

Russia's defence ministry claims its forces have hit a drone production facility in Ukraine.

No further details on the attack were given by the ministry, which added an army fuel depot was also targeted.

Overnight, a huge fire was reported after a Ukrainian drone attack on energy facilities in Russia.

This morning, Reuters news agency reported a Ukrainian intelligence source as saying the attack was part of a campaign against Russian military infrastructure.

The source claims Ukraine's SBU security service drones struck two Rosneft-owned oil depots containing 26,000 cubic metres of fuel in the Smolensk region.

Fashion retailer Hugo Boss is ending its presence in Russia after agreeing a deal to sell its business in the country to wholesale partner Stockmann - two years on from suspending operations there.

"As a result of the agreement, Hugo Boss will no longer be present in Russia with its own legal entity," the company said in a statement.

Along with many other retailers, Hugo Boss paused its business in Russia soon after the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

News agency Interfax reported Russia's government commission on foreign asset sales approved the deal, citing deputy minister of industry and trade Viktor Yevtukhov, with one of the conditions being that all jobs are preserved.

Hugo Boss did not reveal financial terms of the deal, but Russia demands foreign companies sell assets at discounts of at least 50%.

New pictures show what appears to be a huge fire at energy facilities in Yartsevo, in the Smolensk region, after a drone attack from Ukraine.

This morning, Reuters news agency reported a Ukrainian intelligence source as saying the attack was part of a campaign against Russian military infrastructure (see our 9.20am post).

The attack caused a major fire, the source added. 

Pictures obtained by Reuters appears to back up that claim, with the images showing a massive fire in the distance.

Rishi Sunak and his German counterpart Olaf Scholz have agreed to support Ukraine for as long as it takes in the war against Russia, in what the British prime minister described as a dangerous moment in history.

In the past hour, the two leaders held a joint news conference, with Mr Sunak saying Germany and the UK's relationship is stronger than ever.

It comes a day after the prime minister announced UK defence spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 - though he stopped short today of saying NATO's defence spending target should increase to the same proportion.

"The key thing is we're united on wanting to support Ukraine for as long as it takes so that Putin is seeing that his aggression will end in failure," Mr Sunak said this afternoon in Berlin.

Sunak defends defence spending

Our military analyst Michael Clarke says it is "good news" after a "whole series" of "pretty bad news" for Ukraine. 

"This is good news because on the basis of the decision the US took on Saturday and then enacted fully last night to create this big, big aid package of $61bn for Ukraine, this is Britain and Germany coming in behind that, making it clear that that doesn't mean the Europeans are going to relax or take their foot off the of the accelerator," he said.

"They are actually adding to the momentum of America's determination now to support Ukraine.

"So, this is all good for Ukraine. However, political statements are one thing, you've still got deliver on them, and Chancellor Scholz is very good at making statements... he hasn't been as good at delivering on them so far.

"And this British summit with him will, in a sense, be designed, at least on our part, to try to stiffen his resolve."

Ukraine has received a new €1.5bn (£1.29bn) package of financial support from the EU, with hopes of another €10bn later this year.

Finance minister Serhiy Marchenko said the EU, which has provided Ukraine with €31bn, has become the biggest donor of budget financing to Ukraine.

Ukraine faces a $37bn (£29.75bn) budget deficit this year and relies heavily on financial aid from its Western partners.

Kyiv uses most of its state revenues to fund defence efforts as its troops fight a larger and better equipped Russian army.

Ukraine's first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said the government looked forward to final approval of the EU's Ukraine Facility lending program worth €50bn and hopes for three more tranches this year.

She said following final approval, Kyiv would be able to receive €1.89bn in June and two more instalments worth about €4bn in September and November.

Ukraine will have to implement a number of reforms to unlock the tranches, including measures to improve transparency, fight corruption and bring the country's legislation closer to the EU.

Some pictures have emerged from the scene of a reported Russian missile attack in Kharkiv.

Oleh Synehubov, the region's governor, said six people have been injured, with damage to three residential buildings, two offices, three non-residential buildings and a gas pipeline in the central district.

He added 568 windows and 33 cars were also damaged.

As we reported earlier, NATO is planning a training exercise on Friday in Finland, near the border with Russia - something Moscow has warned risks "possible military incidents" (see our 9.24am post).

The UK will play a part in those drills and is already sending nine British Army Apache helicopters, worth £40m each, to Finland, before despatching them for another exercise in Estonia with more aircraft.

Four Wildcat reconnaissance helicopters and two RAF Chinook support helicopters will just go to Estonia and spend a longer time there.

The training exercise with the Apache attack helicopters in Finland is called Exercise Arrow, while the one in Estonia - with all three types of helicopter - is called Exercise Swift Response.

All the activity comes under the umbrella of Exercise Steadfast Defender 24, which is testing NATO's plans for reinforcing defences in Europe against a "near-peer adversary".

Lieutenant Colonel Dave Lambert described Exercise Steadfast Defender as "the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War". 

Some 20,000 British personnel are involved, among 90,000 troops from all 32 members of the alliance.

Rishi Sunak's pledge to put the UK's arms industry on a "war footing" and boost defence spending to 2.5% of GDP may ring hollow for the armed forces.

With Russia waging a full-scale war in Ukraine, it raises the question why he did not make the move sooner and aim higher, given the scale of the threat.

A return to 2.5% of GDP spent on defence - while welcome - would simply bring the UK back up to the level it was achieving at the end of the last Labour government.

And this is a promise to act, not a game-changing moment the armed forces will feel anytime soon.

Read the full analysis by our security and defence editor Deborah Haynes here...