we have learned that he traveled by train to a town near the polish/ukrainian border as part of his journey here. so it is under way. straight to will ripley in ukraine for us. will, hello to you. how important is this visit for ukraine? reporter: good morning, don. it s an incredibly important visit for ukraine and the ukrainian people who are celebrating the news that patriot missile defense systems will be arriving. although the reality is that the war continues. just hours after president zelenskyy tweeted that he was on his way to the u.s. to meet with president biden, the air-raid sirens sounded across ukraine, like every other day of this conflict since this began on february 24th. but the difference is that zelenskyy physically no longer in kyiv or actively in the country on his way out is the first overseas trip by the ukrainian president. it shows from the perspective of commentators here a level of confident that he s willing to go to the united states for this
here that face to face is nothing to scoff at, but what is actually inside this 1. 8 billion is a significant as it gets. in fact, it s as far as the united states has gone when it comes to the types of weapon systems that it s willing to provide ukraine. this will include, the patriot missile defense systems that president zelenskyy for months has banged on the table and ask to be united states to agree to send their way. with something, for months, the biden administration was not willing to consider, given concerns about escalation, or jess the pure scale of time it takes to train up on those systems. that will now change. it s been a process over the course of the last several weeks. president biden will make that announcement, that 1. 8 billion dollars includes patriot missile systems. it s become critical over the course of the last several weeks, something president zelenskyy said personally, to president biden, by phone, just a couple of weeks ago, given the russian ramping up
ukraine s president zelenskyy on his way to washington to visit the white house and speak to congress. the biden administration urging the supreme court to let pandemic border rules run out but not just yet. and the american people about to get a look at donald trump s tax returns after almost four years of legal fighting. all right. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m christine romans. we begin this morning with ukrainian president zelenskyy s surprise visit to the u.s. in just a few hours he ll meet with president biden at the white house. it is zelenskyy s first trip outside ukraine since the invasion began. he s expected to address congress. the biden administration will announce $1.8 billion in assistance to ukraine that includes patriot missile defense systems. claire sebastian is live in
enduring commitment to ukraine. the two leaders are set to meet at the white house. the visit will coincide with an announcement by mr. biden of another aid package for ukraine, totalling almost $2 billion, which will include the highly advanced patriot missile defense systems. in a tweet, mr. zelenskyy confirmed he is headed to the u.s., to quote, strengthen u.s. defense capabilities. the house speaker says it will be honor to have him on capitol hill. to have a complete total hero in the congress of the united states, fighting for democracy, leading people who are fighting for democracy would bring honor to the congress of the united states. cnn s clare sebastian joins us live from cllondon with more. clare, this will be the president s first trip abroad
united states enduring commitment to ukraine. in a tweet, mr. zelenskyy confirmed he is headed to the u.s. to, quote, strength and resilience and defense capabilities. now, the visit will coincide with an announcement by president joe biden of another aid package for ukraine, totaling almost two billion dollars, which will include the highly advanced patriot missile defense systems. now, cnn s oren lieberman has details from the pentagon. in the next ukraine security assistance package, they were expecting when ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy visits washington, visits the white house, where expected the u.s. to announce two crucial systems that fell to different roles. the first of the patriot air defense system, one of the most advanced u.s. systems for air defense. and crucially, a long-range system. that will sit almost like a dome on top of the systems the u.s. has already provided. the medium range nasams system and then some of these shorter systems, such as stingers an