With Ukraine’s Zelensky reportedly in the air en route to Washington where he’s is to deliver a “very special” in-person speech to US lawmakers, it’s being widely reported Wednesday morning that President Biden is expected to announce the US will deliver the Patriot missile defense system, along with another $2 billion in defense aid.

An admin official quoted in Axios said Zelensky’s visit to Washington is expected to last just “a few short hours,” and marks the first known trip the Ukrainian leader has taken outside the country since the war began. He’s expected to hold an “in-depth, strategic discussion” with Biden, and the Congressional address is set for 7:30pm EST.

The unnamed official further said the White House wants to put on a “big show of bipartisan support for Zelensky” in hopes of shoring up political “momentum” for continued assistance to Kiev, which is also coming in the form of the enormous omnibus spending package which includes $45 billion in military, economic, and other foreign aid to Ukraine.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the Ukrainian president’s visit will be received with “strong, bipartisan support for Ukraine.”

She said “The visit will underscore the United States’ steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through the provision of economic, humanitarian, and military assistance.”

Zelensky in the meantime tweeted confirmation while en route…

On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of 🇺🇦. In particular, @POTUS and I will discuss cooperation between 🇺🇦 and 🇺🇸. I will also have a speech at the Congress and a number of bilateral meetings.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 21, 2022

Meanwhile, some initial reaction coming out of Moscow…

• PUTIN: INTERBALLISTIC MISSILES SARMAT WILL BE DEPLOYED FOR COMBAT DUTY IN NEAREST FUTURE
• RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SHOIGU: WE ARE READY FOR TALKS
• RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SHOIGU: JOINT FORCES OF WEST ARE FIGHTING RUSSIA IN UKRAINE
• WEST TRIES TO OVERLOOK NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL, INCLUDING OVER ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER STATION
• WEST TRIES TO DRAG ON THE FIGHTING IN UKRAINE
• RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SHOIGU: WE ARE FIGHTING TO SAVE PEOPLE IN UKRAINE FROM GENOCIDE AND TERROR
• MILITARY POTENTIAL OF UKRAINE IS BEING DESTROYED

It will be interesting to see whether Zelensky’s appearance before Congress is greeted with the same level of enthusiasm from all corners of the GOP.

The GOP wouldn’t fund a $5 Billion Border Wall but have happily sent $130 Billion to Ukraine over 9 months.

— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) December 20, 2022

The US is about to reach $100 billion in aid committed to Ukraine, and as Glenn Greenwald points out, this far surpasses the total current Russian military budget…

Good morning. The US Congress is about to send another $44 billion to Boeing, Raytheon and the CIA “for the war in Ukraine.”

That’s a total of $100 billion sent by the US in 10 months.

The entire Russian military budget for the year is $65 billion.https://t.co/wszK7RHFos

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 21, 2022

developing…