The Kremlin has warned that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s trip to Washington DC and continued Western arms supplies to Ukraine will lead to “deepening” conflict .

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The supply of weapons continues and the range of supplied weapons is expanding.

“All of this, of course, leads to an aggravation of the conflict. This does not bode well for Ukraine.”

When asked if Moscow thought anything positive could come from Mr Zelensky’s visit, Mr Peskov answered: “No”.

The comments come after it emerged that Mr Zelensky is travelling to the US to meet with US President Joe Biden at the White House and to deliver an address to Congress.

During the visit, Mr Biden is expected to announce that the US will send an additional $2bn in security assistance to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden is expected to announce that the US will send an additional $2bn in security assistance to Ukraine, as he meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s in Washington DC.

Mr Zelensky is paying a surprise visit to the US on Wednesday where he will sit down with the US president and deliver an address to Congress.

During the visit, Mr Biden will unveil additional financial assistance to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian attack.

The huge package will include the Patriot missile defence system – a sophisticated system that Ukraine has spoken about wanting the US to provide in the past.

Nearly a year after Russian troops crossed into Ukraine with the aim of toppling President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government, the Ukrainian president will visit Washington to stand with President Joe Biden at the White House as they announce a new $2bn defence assistance package, including the provision of Patriot missile batteries and training for the Ukrainian armed forces.

Mr Zelensky will also address a joint session of Congress scheduled for Wednesday evening. It will be his second visit to the American capital since taking office, and the first since Russia launched its war against his country 300 days ago. It will be his second address to the US legislature, though his prior appearance — which received a standing ovation from Republicans and Democrats alike — was a virtual one made in March during the earliest days of the war.

The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg has the full story:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s surprise visit to the US on Wednesday marks the first time he has left Ukraine since the start of the war.

It has now been 300 days since Russia declared full-scale war on Ukraine back on 24 February.

When the invasion was declared, the US had offered to help get Mr Zelensky out of the country but he refused – vowing to stay put and defend his country.

The monumental visit to Washington is expected to last only a few hours before the Ukrainian president will return to his homeland.

More now on former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev’s account of his meeting with president Xi Jinping.

Mr Medvedev said he and Mr Xi had discussed the two countries’ “no limits” strategic partnership, as well as Ukraine. He did not provide further details.

“We discussed cooperation between the two ruling parties of China and Russia … bilateral cooperation within our strategic partnership, including on the economy and industrial production. We also discussed international issues – including, of course, the conflict in Ukraine,” Mr Medvedev said.

“The talks were useful,” he added.

China hopes all parties in the Ukraine crisis will maintain restraint and resolve security concerns through political means, President Xi Jinping told Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese state media Xinhua reports.

Mr Xi also told Mr Medvedev he hopes the Chinese Communist Party and United Russia can promote communication and provide wisdom to deepen strategic cooperation between China and Russia, it was claimed.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has posted a video on social media of him meeting China’s President Xi Jinping in a visit to Beijing.

Mr Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia‘s Security Council, said he and Mr Xi discussed Russia and China’s “strategic partnership”, cooperation between the two countries and the conflict in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to liberate his country by whatever means before he left to meet his US counterpart Joe Biden in Washington.

“We will do everything possible and impossible, expected and unexpected, so that our heroes have everything they need to win,” he said in his nightly video address on Tuesday.

“For the results that all Ukrainians expect.”

The Russian space agency has said it will borrow up to 50 billion roubles (£584m) in 2023 to fund a mass satellite-building programme to catch up with the US and China.

Roscosmos said it would place publicly traded bonds on Russia’s financial markets throughout next year to boost its capacity to produce and launch satellites both for the Russian government and private companies.

The space agency has this year launched a number of satellites into orbit, including for Russia’s GLONASS radio-based satellite navigation system – seen as a potential rival for to U.S. global position system (GPS) – and Iran’s Khayyam imaging satellite – a launch that raised fears in the West it could boost Russia’s military capabilities in Ukraine.

The British defence ministry has said that the Russian military and Wagner proxy forces have made small advances on the eastern edge of the Donetsk oblast town of Bakhmut in the last week.

“Russian infantry likely now has a foothold in the eastern industrial areas of the town, and at times has advanced into the residential district of the city. Street fighting is ongoing,” the defence ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

It added that intense combat has occurred in the Bakhmut sector since June 2022, but the front lines have primarily been in open country around the eastern approaches to the town.

“The war has seen little protracted, large-scale fighting in built up areas (FIBUA) since the Russian advances into Lysychansk and Siverodonetsk in July 2022,” the MoD said.

“With FIBUA demanding highly trained infantry with excellent junior level leadership, this type of combat is unlikely to favour poorly trained Wagner fighters and the Russian army’s mobilised reservists,” according to the defence ministry.