US President Joe Biden restated his determination that Russia fail in its Ukraine ambitions, speaking during a four-day visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia in which he and other leaders discussed the international response to the war and the global grain shortage it has exacerbated, writes The New Tork Times.

“Putin’s assault on Ukraine is a challenge to the peace and stability everywhere in the world. Putin’s war must be a strategic failure.

The free world must sustain a resolve to help Ukraine defend its democracy”, - Biden said, adding that “the United States will continue to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people who have been devastated and displaced by the Russian violence.”