He said Moscow wanted to avoid a nuclear war but said the Kremlin was ready to deploy nuclear weapons to protect its “territorial integrity.”

The U.S. has been providing Ukraine with military equipment as well as training as part of multiple aid packages passed in Congress since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

Last week, American lawmakers passed a new $61bn package and over the weekend unveiled a six billion dollars long-term military support package.

The U.S. also reinforced its military presence alongside allies its allies in Europe and Washington has been in talks with Warsaw to move part of its nuclear arsenal to Poland.

Joe Biden has, however, not committed to sending troops to Ukraine directly – a move President Emmanuel Macron said was on the table for France and other NATO allies.

Macron insisted that “we cannot exclude options” as “the security of Europe and the security of the French people is at stake here.”