TOP HEADLINES

• The U.S. has announced a new package of weapons for Ukraine worth $2.6 billion, including three air surveillance radars and anti-tank rockets. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in neighboring Poland for an official visit. Warsaw has been one of Kyiv's most vocal supporters during the conflict, pushing hard for increased Western military and political assistance. READ MORE BELOW

• EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron are arriving in China on a mission to "reset" ties with the bloc's biggest trading partner, with the conflict also high on the list of topics for discussion.

• French President Emmanuel Macron said shortly after his arrival in Beijing that China could play an important role in the Ukraine conflict, adding that dialogue was essential. 

• Britain has blocked the UN webcast of an informal Security Council meeting on Ukraine that Russia's commissioner for children's rights – whom the International Criminal Court wants to arrest on war crimes charges – was due to speak at.

• Polish Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk will step down from his position amid growing anger among farmers over the impact of Ukrainian grain imports on prices.

• Ukraine is training 40,000 troops as part of eight new storm brigades for its Spring counter-offensive.

• German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said NATO needed to strengthen its relations with global like-minded partners during an alliance summit that saw Finland join the Western military bloc. 

• A Ukrainian drone crashed near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant just as the chief of the world's nuclear watchdog was set to arrive in Russia for talks on the plant's security.

• Russian investigators have charged 26-year-old Darya Trepova with terrorist offences over the killing of pro-Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a bomb attack.

• Spain's six Leopard 2A4 tanks, important additions to Kyiv's coming Spring counter offensive, will leave for Ukraine in the second half of April, according to the defense ministry.

IN DETAIL

U.S. weapons, Zelenskyy visits Poland

The U.S. has announced a new package of weapons and other military equipment for Ukraine worth more than $2.6 billion, including three air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks.

The latest instalment means Washington has now provided more than $35 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the conflict escalated last year. 

In response, Moscow's embassy in Washington accused the U.S. of wanting to drag out the conflict as long as possible.

The U.S. weapons arrive as Ukrainian forces ready to launch a Spring counteroffensive in the east against Russian forces, although when the operation will begin in earnest is yet to be announced. 

The battlefield focus still remains on the besieged town of Bakhmut, a strategic transport hub on the edge of an area of Donetsk province largely under Russian control. Both sides have suffered huge casualties there, with much of the city reduced to ruins after months of street fighting and bombardments. 

Russian forces said at the weekend that it had captured the city center, but Kyiv dismissed the claims. 

In Warsaw, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was due to meet his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in an official state visit. 

Poland, one of Kyiv's most vocal supporters, has played an important role in pushing other Western powers to supply battle tanks and other weaponry to Ukraine.

"It will not be a surprise to anyone that the Ukrainian side will ask Poland and other foreign partners for more support... but we must be aware that we as Poland have already really done a lot," Polish presidential aide Marcin Przydacz said.

Przydacz said earlier that a first shipment of MiG fighter jets had already been delivered to Ukraine.

"MiGs from Poland will significantly strengthen our defence, allow us to make our skies safer, save the lives of our citizens and also reduce the destruction caused by Russian attacks," Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov wrote on Telegram.

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