Joe Biden approves $100m transfer of anti-armour missiles to Ukraine

Joe Biden has approved a 100 million-dollar transfer of Javelin anti-armour missiles to Ukraine (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

US President Joe Biden has approved a 100 million-dollar transfer of Javelin anti-armour missiles to Ukraine.

The transfer brings the total of US military assistance for Ukraine to 2.4 billion dollars since Mr Biden took office in January 2021.

The White House announced late on Tuesday that Mr Biden approved the assistance, which is funded as part of a broader 13.6 billion dollars in aid for Ukraine approved by Congress last month after Russia’s invasion.

An administration official confirmed anonymously that it was for a transfer of the Javelin missiles, which have been requested by the Ukrainian military to combat Russian armour.

Meanwhile, police in the Romanian capital say a car has crashed into the gate of the Russian embassy, bursting into flames and killing the driver.

Police in Bucharest say the sedan rammed into the gate at about 6am (4am Irish time) on Wednesday but did not enter the embassy compound.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said French President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to provide technical and expert support for an investigation into crimes committed by Russian troops in Bucha and elsewhere.

There has been international outcry at apparent war crimes committed by Russian forces in Bucha (Felipe Dana/AP)

Mr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he also asked Mr Macron to help the people trapped in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.

In an interview with Turkey’s Haberturk television in Kyiv, Mr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to hide its actions in Mariupol and not wanting humanitarian aid to enter the city “until they clean it all up”.

Mr Zelenskyy said he also expects European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to visit Kyiv soon.