MAIN HEADLINES

• Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday he was on his way to the U.S. for talks with Joe Biden and to address the U.S. Congress in what will be his first trip abroad since the conflict began in February.

• The Kremlin said it was not expecting any shift in Ukraine's stance with regards to peace talks during Zelenskyy's U.S. trip.

• U.S. President Biden is expected to announce a new $2bn assistance package to Ukraine on Wednesday, according to a senior U.S. official.

• Russia said further weapons deliveries to Ukraine would aggravate the conflict, amid reports that the U.S. will announce a new arms package on Wednesday.

• Belarus has issued a ruling to temporally restrict access to parts of the southeastern Gomel region that borders Ukraine and Russia.

• The World Bank has approved an additional financing package worth $610mn to address urgent needs in Ukraine.

• Luxembourg's finance ministry said it has authorized the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources held at the Clearstream settlement house by Russia's National Settlement Depository.

• France has delivered more air defence missile systems and other weapons to Ukraine and will send more early next year, President Emmanuel Macron said.

• Air-raid sirens blared across Ukraine on Wednesday, local officials said, but there was no immediate word of a new wave of Russian attacks.

• Putin presented state awards at a ceremony in the Kremlin on Tuesday. Russian-installed heads of Ukraine's annexed regions of Donetsk and Luhansk were among those to be honored by the Russian president.

IN DETAIL

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make his first trip abroad since February when he arrives in the U.S. on Wednesday.

During the visit, Zelesnkyy will meet with U.S. counterpart Joe Biden and address the U.S. Congress.

Zelesnkyy will visit the White House, participate in a joint news conference with the U.S. president and then go to Capitol Hill. The trip is expected to last several hours.

In a post on Twitter on Wednesday morning, the Ukrainian President said: "On my way to the United States to strengthen resilience and defence capabilities of Ukraine.

"In particular POTUS and I will discuss cooperation between Ukraine and the United States. I will also have a speech at the Congress and a number of bilateral meetings."

The U.S. is due to announce a $2bn new assistance package for Ukraine, a senior U.S. official said.

But the Kremlin said further weapons deliveries to Ukraine would aggravate the conflict.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "All this certainly leads to an aggravation of the conflict and does not bode well for Ukraine."