KYIV
\nThe United States has announced a new package of weapons and other military equipment for Ukraine, where Russian troops pressed on with their long and costly battle to seize the eastern city of Bakhmut.
\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile arrived in neighboring Poland on Wednesday on an official visit to a close ally that has taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees and provided vital weaponry to the Kyiv government.
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron was due in China after he and US President Joe Biden agreed they would try to engage Beijing to hasten the end of Russia\u2019s assault on Ukraine, now in its second year.
\nThe United States on Tuesday pledged $2.6 billion more in military assistance for Zelensky\u2019s government, including three air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks. The United States has now provided more than $35 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
\nMoscow\u2019s embassy in Washington accused the United States of wanting to drag out the conflict as long as possible, Russian news agency TASS said.
\nThe new US aid package comes as Ukrainian forces prepare to mount a counteroffensive in the east against Russian forces, although when exactly it might kick off has not been disclosed.
\nThe battlefield focus remained on Bakhmut, a mining city and transport hub on the edge of a chunk of Donetsk province largely under Russian control. Both sides have suffered huge casualties and much of the city has been reduced to ruins after months of street fighting and bombardments.
\nBakhmut\u2019s fate was unclear on Wednesday morning after Russian forces said at the weekend they had captured the city center \u2014 a claim dismissed by Kyiv.
\nNear the town of Niu-York, 50 km south of Bakhmut, Ukrainian soldiers in muddy dugouts described repelling Russian attacks on a daily basis.
\n\u201cThey creep in, fire and try to exhaust us. Then they evaluate the situation and can move forward for a little more,\u201d commander of infantry unit, who gave his nom-de-guerre as \u201cBodia\u201d told Reuters.
\n\u201cMeanwhile, we try to let them get closer to us so that we can hit them more precisely.\u201d
\nUkrainian military commanders have stressed the importance of holding Bakhmut and other towns and inflicting losses prior to the anticipated counteroffensive.
\nThe Ukrainian general staff said in a report: \u201cIn the Bakhmut sector, there was no letup in enemy actions aimed at storming the city of Bakhmut. At least 20 enemy attacks were repelled here alone over the past 24 hours.\u201d
\nReuters could not verify the battlefield reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV The United States has announced a new package of weapons and other military equipment for Ukraine, where Russian troops pressed on with their long and costly battle to seize the eastern city of Bakhmut. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile arrived in neighboring Poland on Wednesday on an official visit to a close ally that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-324098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n