Approval of $61bn aid from US shows Ukraine will not be abandoned, says Zelenskiy

Ukrainian president urges Senate to ratify aid package so that country can strengthen frontline with Russia

Ukraine's president has said the vote by the US House of Representatives to pass a long-delayed $61bn (49bn) military aid package demonstrated that his country would not be abandoned by the west in its effort to fight the Russian invasion.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview with US television that Saturday's vote showed Ukraine would not be a second Afghanistan", whose pro-western government collapsed during an US-led pullout in the summer of 2021.