anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. >> president biden announced an additional $800 million of military aid to ukraine amid russia's invasion of that country including heavy artillery, ammunition and tactical drones. surely before his announcement he met with the ukrainian prime minister at the white house. this is about 15 minutes. white house. this is about 15 minutes.

pres. biden: good morning everyone. sorry to keep you waiting a bit, i had the honor of spending some time with ukrainian prime minister. today he is meeting with some of my cabinet members between the secretary of treasury and others. we had a good discussion. i talked about what i'm about to tell you about today as well as he was thanking the american people for the support, understands the significance and we talked about keeping everyone together in terms of europe, the european union and others and the effort to stop putin's brutality. before i head out to the west coast i want to quickly update the american people on the latest steps we are taking to support the people of ukraine

and you hold putin accountable for his brutal and bloody war. russian forces have retreated from kyiv, leaving behind horrible evidence. i don't say this often but i think we should give enormous credit to folks in your agencies who are on the ground in ukraine in these spots and i've spoken to several of them, we owe them. but uncovered these evidence of atrocities and war crimes against the ukrainian people. it's so clear to the world now. now they've launched and refocused their campaign to seize new territory in eastern ukraine and we are in a critical window now of time where they will set the stage for the next phase of this war. the united states and our allies and partners are moving as fast as possible to continue to provide ukraine with 4 -- sources they need, of the weapons and equipment they need

to defend their nation. last week i signed an $800 million package of security systems to ukraine that included new capabilities like artillery systems and armored personnel carriers. equipment responsive to ukraine's needs and tailored to support the intensified fighting in the donbass region which is a different war than other regions. it is flat, it is not in the mountains and requires different kind of weapons to be effective. today i'm announcing 800 million dollars to further augment ukraine's fight in the region. this includes heavy artillery weapons, dozens of howitzers and 144,000 rounds of ammunition's to go with those howitzers. it includes tactical drones. in the past two months we've moved weapons and equipment to ukraine at record speed. we have some -- sent drones,

grenade launchers, machine guns, radar systems. more than 15 million rounds of ammunition had been sent. the u.s. alone has provided 10 antiarmor systems per one russian tank in ukraine. we will share significant and timely intelligence with ukraine, help defend them against russian aggression. on top of this, of these direct contributions from the united states, we facilitate this significant flow of weapons and systems to ukraine from other allies and partners around the world like the s 300 long-range antiaircraft systems that slovakia recently transferred to ukraine. we won't always be able to advertise everything that our partners are doing to support ukraine in its fight for freedom , but to modernize teddy roosevelt's advice, sometimes we will speak softly and carry a

large javelin because we are sending a lot of those in as well. we are not sitting on the funding congress has provided ukraine, we are sending it directly to the front lines, to the fearless and skilled ukrainian fighters standing in the breach. you have to be amazed at the courage of this country, the resolve they are showing, not just their military their average citizen. men and women, young men and women as well. the sustained and coordinated support of the international community, led and facilitated by the united states is a significant reason why ukraine is able to stop russia from taking over their country thus far. every american taxpayer, every member of our armed forces can be proud of the fact of our country's generosity and the skilled servicemembers helped arm the pushback of russia.

the battle of kiev was a historic victory for ukrainians, it was a victory for freedom, won by the ukrainian people with unprecedented assistance from the u.s. and our allies and partners. now we have to help prepare ukraine for russia's offensive that will be more limited in terms of geography but not in terms of brutality. combined with our recent drawdowns it will ensure a steady flow of weapons and equipment to ukraine for the next few weeks. this latest disbursement, i've a most the drawdown authority i have that congress authorized in the spending bill last month. in order to sustain ukraine for the duration of this fight, and next week i will have to send congress a supplemental budget request to keep weapons and ammunition flowing without

interruption to the brave ukrainian fighters who deliver at the -- and to deliver economic assistance to the ukrainian people. my hope and expectation's congress will move and act quickly. i want to thank the congress, democrats and republicans, for their support of the people of ukraine. our unity at home and with our allies and partners in the unity with the ukrainian people is sending an unmistakable message to putin, he will not succeed in dominating and occupying all of ukraine. it will not happen. in addition to bolstering ukraine's assistance on the battlefield, we are bolstering our support for the people of ukraine. the united states is announcing we intend to provide an additional 500 million dollars in direct economic assistance to the ukrainian government. this brings our total economic support for ukraine to $1 billion in the past few months. this is money the government can do -- used to help stabilize

their economy and pay for workers and provide essential services to the people of ukraine. these past few weeks have seen the terrible human cost of putin's ambition for conquest and control. approximately two thirds of all ukrainian children have been displaced from their home. more than 5 million ukrainians have fled the country. it is an absolute outrage. the idea this is happening when approaching the second quarter of the 21st century, last month and i was in europe i announced the united states will welcome 100 thousand ukrainians so we share in the responsibility of supporting ukrainians fleeing putin's war machine. we have welcomed tens of thousands to the united states and today i am announcing a program to enable ukrainians seeking refuge to come directly

from europe to the united states. this new program will complement the existing legal pathways available to ukrainians including immigrant visas and refugee processing. it will provide an expedient channel for secure legal migration from europe to the u -- united states for those who have a sponsor family or ngo. it will be fast and will ensure the united states congress's commitment to ukraine. we will also ratchet up the pressure on putin and further isolate russia on the world stage. yesterday, the treasury department rolled out additional measures to crack down on the entities and individuals attempting to evade our unprecedented sanctions, not just ours but throughout the west. the united states will ban russian affiliated ships from our ports as they did in europe.

that means no ship that sails under the russian flag or that is owned or operated by russian tryst be allowed to dock in the united states port or access our shores. this is another critical step we are taking in concert with our partners in the european union, united kingdom, canada to further deny the benefits of russia -- to russia by the economic system. putin has failed to achieve his grand ambitions on the battlefield. after weeks of shelling he have, kyiv still stands. president zelenskyy and the democratic government still remain in power. ukrainian armed forces, joined by ukrainian civilians have thwarted russia's conquest of their country. they have been bolstered from day one by a supply of weapons,

ammunition, armor, intelligence from the nations of the free world led by the united states read as russia continues to grind out military advances in the brutalities against ukraine, putin is banking on us losing interest. you've heard me say this from the beginning, he was counting on nato, the european union, our allies in asia cracking and moving away. he is betting that western unity will crack. once again we will prove him wrong. we will not lessen our resolve. we will stand with the brave and proud people of ukraine. we will never fail in our determination to defend freedom and deposed here any. again i want to thank the american people for their support of the ukrainian people. this is our responsibility and we have been able to hold the

world together in this effort. so thank you very much. i will take one or two questions. >> what does putin claiming control over mariupol, how significant is that? >> it is questionable whether he holds control. he should allow humanitarian efforts to help those who are stuck to get out. that's what any head of state would do in any -- in this circumstance. there is no evidence yet that mare you pull -- mariupol has fallen. first of all, there will be an appeal but the justice department because there is a matter of principle we want to

be in a position where if in fact it is strongly concluded by the scientists that we need title 42 that we would be able to do that. but there has been no decision on extending find -- title 42. >> how long can the u.s. maintain the level and pace of military support for ukraine? pres. biden: we have the capacity to do this for a long time. the question is are we going to continue to maintain the support in the international community to keep the pressure on them and to prevent him from overrunning the country and make sure we continue to maintain the economic sanctions, which over time, and we are beginning to see his devastating their economy and ability to move forward. the most important thing now is maintaining unity.

so far, so good. thank you. >> thank you. >> reading the latest from the white -- bringing the latest from the white house and other officials as well as congress. we have international perspective from the united nations and statements from foreign leaders all on c-span network. and c-span.org/ukraine. our web resource page where you can watch the latest videos on demand and follow tweets from journalists on the ground.

>> now available in the c-span shop, c-span's 2022 congressional directory. go there today to order a copy of the congressional directory. this is your guide to the federal government with contact information for every member of congress including biographies and political assignments. order your copy today or scan the code with your smartphone. each purchase helps support c-span's nonprofit operation. >> french voters go to the polls this weekend. up next, the french president emmanuel macron and challenger marine le pen go head-to-head in a presidential election debate. the two talked about the country's response to the war in ukraine and marine le pen's association with the russian bank. the runoff is set