BERLIN — President Joe Biden leaves Thursday for what is likely to be his final trip as president to Europe, where Germany will bestow its highest honor on him for spearheading global efforts to protect Ukraine as European leaders strategize for a potential future in which the United States could be less engaged in the transatlantic alliance.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday about efforts to surge security assistance to Ukraine and announced a new $425 million military aid package, the White House said.

Australia will give 49 of its aging M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday that his government is giving Ukraine most of its American-made M1A1 tanks, which are valued at $163 million.

Conroy provides more detail on donation of 49 Abram tanks to Ukraine The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, has been speaking with ABC RN following the announcement Australia would donate 49 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

Australia is set to transfer nearly 50 American-made M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, officials confirmed on Wednesday.

Russia's ties with North Korea have grown since the start of the Ukraine war on February 24, 2022, particularly as Moscow faces increasing international isolation. In March, Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution, effectively ending international monitoring of sanctions against North Korea.

Ukraine called on its allies on Wednesday to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang after it said North Korea had become a de facto participant in the war in Ukraine on Russia's side. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told parliament in a speech to outline his victory plan that his spy services had confirmed North Korea's supply of both weapons and people to Russia,

The U.S. says it is "concerned" about reports of North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops in the war against Ukraine, calling it "a new level of desperation."