from berlin. ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy arrives at the white house. he is meeting with u.s. president biden for talks on the war in ukraine head of addresses to congress. zelenskyy it iszelenskyy's first trip abroad since russia invaded. it's being viewed as a potential game changer in the war. the u.s.-made patriot missile system will soon be operating in ukraine. we will look at how it could

reshape the conflict. also on the show, the path for migrants are hoping to reach the u.s. gets harder. mexico tightens its requirements for people traveling, leading to overcrowding and desperate conditions at migrant camps. and mounting concern in germany as a growing number of infants are hospitalized with rsv, but also hope, as a vaccine to protect newborns from the virus could be just around the corner. ♪ i am nicole frolich. it is good to have you with us. ukraine's president of volodymyr zelenskyy is in washington where he is meeting with president joe biden at the white house. it is zelenskyy's first trip outside of ukraine since the russian invasion in february. the u.s. is kyiv's most important ally in the war,

having supplied tens of billions of dollars in military aid. the biden administration announced another aid package for kyiv, including patriot air defense systems. here now, we will hear from volodymyr zelenskyy and then u.s. president joe biden. >> all my appreciations from my heart, from the heart of ukrainians, all ukrainians, from our nation, strong nation. all the appreciation to you, first of all, mr. president, for your big support and leadership. of course europe, many countries helped us and are helping now, because the war is not over. but that is your leadership. thank you, first of all. >> we are going to continue to strengthen ukraine's ability to defend itself, particularly air defense. that is why we are going to provide ukraine with patriot missile batteries and training

your forces to be able to accurately use them. together with our partners, we are also going to support ukraine in pursuing just peace. president zelenskyy, the u.s. stands with the great people of ukraine, we stand with you. by the way, we have a famous thing that occurs once a year, time magazine picks the man of the year. you are the man of the year in the united states of america. nicole: dw's ines pohl is with me and our chief international editor richard walker. ines, i want to go to you first. president zelenskyy is holding talks with joe biden at the oval office. tell us more about what you have been seeing and hearing. ines: president zelenskyy showed again that he really knows which buttons to press. he not only thank the american president for his leadership not only in the u.s. but also europe.

and he thanked congress, which is so important to sign the bills for military aid. then as we just heard in the soundbite, he delivered a very heartfelt thank you from the average ukrainians to the average americans. then, and i think this is very specific and very special for him, at the end of this press gathering in the oval office, he gave a cross for military merit to president biden. talking very briefly but very convincingly about the dire and dangerous situation for ukrainian soldiers. and he said -- set a very specific tone for this visit. on the one hand being very humble and thankful, but also being very aware of the outstanding greatness of the american army. nicole: richard, the u.s. has, since this war began, been ukraine's staunchest ally. now zelenskyy's first trip outside ukraine since the war began to the u.s.

how symbolic is this? richard: incredibly symbolic. if we have been having a conversation about this 10 months ago when the war began, the thought that zelenskyy would be able to stand on the steps of the white house as a wartime leader visiting joe biden, it would have seemed very far-fetched. in a sense, he has traveled the world virtually during the course of this year. he has made addresses via video link up to the u.s. congress, to the buddhist tog, the parliament here in germany and many other places, beating that drum up support, getting international support for ukraine, being so important. he has proven himself, as we saw with this gesture, as an incredibly talented communicator. i think we are going to be seeing more of that. have a press conference coming up and we have this address to congress. where we are going to see this kind of combined message of saying thank you to the united

states for this support which has been completely essential to his ability to still be standing 10 months later. but also wrapped in that thank you is the slightly harder message of, it is still not enough. and this support cannot stop coming. because if it does ever stop coming, then ukrainians will be extremely vulnerable. nicole: and there is quite a bit of discussion in the united states about whether or not there should be less or more aid flowing into ukraine, especially now that the house is going to be held by a republican majority. what do you think we're going to hear in his address to congress later today? ines: right, zelenskyy is coming to washington really at a very critical moment with the support for the ukraine war among many in the hard right in congress is starting to kind of weaken. so he wants to ensure that also the new congress, which will be

sworn in in the beginning of january, will continue the support which is so crucial, how richard just pointed out, in the war efforts against russia. so this will be his main task, to kind of convince, to reach out to those who are much more critical when it comes to spending so much money for the ukrainian support. we heard already today, nicole, that many republicans have already threatened that they will not hand ukraine a blank check. so he will not only address a joint meeting of congress, but also will have many bilateral talks to, as richard said, to make sure that support from the united states continues. nicole: richard, how big is the real danger that there will be less aid destined to ukraine and

its war efforts after republicans take the house? richard: the risk is aid to ukraine increasingly becomes politicized. in a congress that is divided, in a republican party where the search for the next nominee to run for the u.s. president star symbol, there is a risk of this becoming heavily politicized within the u.s., which of course is a significant risk. there is one other thing i would add which would be interesting to watch out for from zelenskyy is not just talking about the amount of military support and financial support he is getting, but also how to deal with the question of how this war ends. both in europe and in some quarters of the united states you have some quarters coming up saying it is important to think about avenues of diplomacy and dialogue with the russians, potentially finding a diplomatic

solution. ukrainians are extremely alarmed by this prospect because they see that as a risk of essentially drawing a line of the conflict as it is now, in the lingo, freezing it as it is now, which they see as something that will just give the russians a breather, enable them to rearm and come back and relaunch a war a year or two down the road. so ukrainians really want support to keep going with this war, to fight this war. the expression we just heard from joe biden in the meeting in the white house, which i think will be something that zelenskyy will be pleased to hear, is we will support ukraine and supporting a just peace. what is a just peace? i think we can hear something from zelenskyy on that. nicole: richard walker and ines pohl, thank you so much. as we have heard, the u.s. has

announced a new package of military aid for ukraine including a state-of-the-art patriot missile battery. kyiv has her pete of the push for the advanced air defense system which u.s. officials say will enable ukraine to better defend itself against russian attacks. but trading personnel on how to use these weapons properly could take up to six weeks. to take a closer look at the military picture, i am joined by defense expert marina miron from king's college in london. u.s. patriot missiles are going to soon be headed for ukraine. will they make a difference in the war? marina: thank you for having me. obviously if we are taking the situation in terms of air defense systems right now in ukraine, it would certainly make a difference to give them a patriot air defense system. however, there are a few problems with that. first of all, as has been

pointed out by other experts, the troops need to know how to operate. meaning, the troops will have to be trained in germany as it stands right now. the second thing is, when is the system going to arrive? it is foreseeable that it will reach ukraine in spring. we are still at the end of december. so what will happen between now and the time that the patriot missile defense system reaches ukraine? that is kind of the worrying part here. and to add to that, ukraine has asked for other weapons such as long-range missiles. however, the united states is not prepared to deliver those. and obviously, it will matter where you place the air defense so the question is whether one patriot battery will make such a great difference for ukraine, especially given the fact that will arrive so late. nicole: i guess they think one

is better than none. there has been talk of russia preparing another major offensive. is that realistic, given months of russian setbacks on the battlefield? marina: russia has been talking about it in its own media since november, i believe, hinting at a potential major offensive coming in january. and now we have seen putin traveling to minsk to speak to alexander lukashenko in order to discuss some matters, we do not know what it is. there are rumors there is the potential that russia might be involving belarus into this war. however, the problem is belarus is not a great military power, and lukashenko, what he can provide the russians with is possibly some tanks. in terms of military power, they don't have that much. so i would not see how that

major offensive is going to take place, unless russia is just trying to fix ukrainian troops into the north by announcing this major offensive in order to launch it somewhere in the donbas, in zaporizhzhia for instance. the kremlin spokesman said as much. he did not deny the fact that there might be an attack coming from the north, and he did not confirm it, so he is trying to keep it all in shadows in order to confuse the ukrainian forces as a part of the information warfare campaign that is going on. nicole: defense expert marina miron, thank you so much for that analysis. marina: thank you. nicole: here's a quick look at some other stories making headlines. vladimir putin has vowed pressure will achieve all of its goals in ukraine. the russian president so the military would receive whatever it needed without financial limits.

monsoon rains have triggered deadly flooding in northern malaysia. at least five people have died, while more than 70,000 have been forced to flee their homes. flooding is an annual phenomenon in malaysia, but climate change is likely exacerbating the problem. germany has sent its first batch of biontech covid-19 vaccines to china. for now at least, only german nationals living in china will benefit. this follows a deal between aging and berlin. china is otherwise sticking to its policy of using only domestically produced vaccines. thousands of migrants have gathered at the u.s.-mexico border waiting to see if the u.s. supreme court will lift a series of emergency migration restrictions. the restrictions known as title 42 place limits on border crossings to reduce the spread of covid-19. they were set to expire wednesday, but republican states mounted a legal challenge to keep them in place. but even before reaching the u.s. border, migrants now face

new transit rules in mexico, making an already dangerous journey even more arduous. reporter: some 10,000 migrants wait for their papers in southwestern mexico. this family left ecuador a month ago, and made a dangerous durney through dense jungle. the trip took its toll on their 1.5-month-old daughter. she has a fever and diarrhea. >> it was unbearable traveling with a young baby. her breathing suffers in the heat and she dehydrates. they treat it as -- they treated us very badly. they took us off the bus. reporter: in these makeshift tents, doctors without borders treat around 300 people every day. many are families with young children. they have breathing problems from sleeping outdoors.

when the agency arrived in october there were more than 20,000 migrants. its coordinator warns the situation is getting worse. >> it is creating an agglomeration of people that to with the lack of food, access to water, not enough toilets, can create an outbreak or health emergency. reporter: on the border with guatemala, the mexican government imposed new requirements on those transiting through the state on their way to the united states. but they have not provided humanitarian assistance. >> my wife suffered every day from fever, flu, and a tight chest. we cook over an open fire, and flies and mosquitoes are all over the food. reporter: javier and his partner

have to bathe and wash their clothing in the river. then they spend the whole day waiting in line under the hot sun to collect their documents. there are as many as seven checkpoints on the 300 kilometer route. this activist on behalf of the migrants says the u.s. is ultimately to blame. >> they want to make the south like a jail where migrants have to stay. they want to keep them back at all costs. they give them documents, but these documents or for a very short period of time, which is useless. even if they allow them to go on, they send them away later. reporter: but despite the obstacles, almost no one is thinking of returning home. they fled criminal gangs in ecuador. their only option now is to keep

moving forward. nicole: david bier is the associate director of immigration studies at the caddo institute. he is an expert on interior enforcement and i asked him earlier if he agrees of an unprecedented calamity of title 42 ends. david: absolutely not. the u.s. is a very large country. we have seen much larger refugee flows into poland and parts of europe. venezuelan displaced population is over 2.5 million in colombia. so the idea that it is some unmanageable situation for the u.s., one of the richest countries on earth, is just not true. of course we are handling it extremely poorly. the administration and congress are not working together to produce an immigration process

that is not dysfunctional and chaotic. but the idea that we cannot handle this or that this is the breaking point for our country is just hyperbole on top of hyperbole. this is a challenge but it is one that is easily met with good policy and some dedicated resources. nicole: winter has arrived in the northern hemisphere and with it, huge surges in patients with respiratory illnesses. a so-called tripledemic has left many hospitals overwhelmed. there are effective vaccines for covid-19 and influenza, but there is not one against the third pathogen, rsv. but it looks like that could soon change. reporter: respiratory syncytial virus, or rsv, can pose a particular danger to newborns like andrea's, because the inflammation and mucus it causes can blocked the tiny airways in their lungs. like in many places in the

northern hemisphere, pediatric hospitals in germany are currently struggling to cope with a cresting wave of infant patients. >> usually, chaos breaks out in the late afternoon. then the emergency room is full, and no more beds are available. my poor assistants spend hours, literally hours on the phone trying to find a free bed for the children. reporter: and although generally pretty harmless for adults, the virus can also hold dangerous for the elderly. unlike other common respiratory illnesses like influenza or covid-19, there are still no authorized vaccines to help reduce the ravages caused by rsv. despite decades of efforts, it has proven difficult to develop them. they are long overdue. >> rsv is the number one health care problem in under twos.

many die from it because the supporting therapy is v -- not many die from it because the supporting therapy is very good. reporter: now, options could be around the corner. an rsv vaccine candidate developed by pfizer for expectant mothers could be approved in the coming weeks. it has been shown to also protect newborns directly after birth. and a pfizer vaccine for the elderly is not far behind. rival glaxosmithkline is also seeking approval for its rsv vaccine next spring. important steps forward in protecting the most vulnerable from the worst effects of a potentially deadly illness. nicole: for more on this i'm joined by ralf reintjes, professor for epidemiology and public health surveillance in hamburg. good to have the on the shell. in your assessment, how bad is

the current situation in europe during what is called a tripledemic? ralf: it is not unexpected, what we are seeing at the moment. in the autumn and winter, respiratory illnesses are increasing. but it is so much more than in a normal season before the covid pandemic. nicole: german hospitals are overwhelmed by sick children, basic, simple medicines are hard to get. why is germany so, seemingly, ill prepared? ralf: there are lots of different factors which influence this. on the one side of course, the last three years and the use of hygiene measures to prevent respiratory illnesses reduce to the situation, or makes the situation a bit more difficult now. while we have reduced most of

the hygiene measures, so all respiratory misses can spread much easier at the moment. on the other hand, also hospital staff are ill to a large extent. also, the health care system itself was focused mainly on being, on trying to reduce costs over recent years, so there is not much of a backup in the background, which could be used in a more difficult situation like this one at the moment. nicole: why does rsv appear to be a bigger issue this year than in year's prior, because it is not a new virus? ralf: that is true. but over the last three years for example, we used lots of good hygiene measures. we were wearing masks, we had school closures, even lockdowns which reduced contact of people and the spread of lots of viruses, not only coronavirus.

which, at the same time then, produced more susceptible people at the moment because nobody got it at that time, and at the moment was not so many precautions being taken, or respiratory pathogens have much better opportunities to spread. and that is why we are seeing this big wave. nicole: talking about health measures and hygiene measures, you have warned several times germany might see surging illnesses this winter. do you think that stricter measures are needed to get that surge under control now? ralf: it is not only me, less of my colleagues were also quite aware that this autumn and winter is going to be the more difficult one for several reasons. and it's not always good when you go from white to black or black to white, from one extreme to the other.

being very careful for the last few years, and being less careful at the moment of course is not very helpful, or very good for the pathogens but not so good for us. so better hygiene measures, still using masks indoors when you are using other people will not only reduce the spread of coronavirus, but also rsv, influenza, and several other predatory viruses. nicole: ralf reintjes joining us from hamburg. thank you for your time. ralf: you are welcome. nicole: today is the shortest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere. the winter solstice. while most people likely have nothing special planned, the egyptian city of luxor has a unique way to mark the celebration. more now on a celebration 1000 years old. reporter: a spectacular vista

and cheesy soundtrack. the stage is set for a tourist highlight. hundreds gathered early at the temple of carnax in egypt and city up luxor to witness a very special light show. during the winter solstice, sunrise aligns with the axis of the temple to channel the light through the ancient structure. the annual spectacle left an impression on the visitors. >> it's special because we came and this happened. sometimes everything just aligns, the universe makes things happen. they say the stars align. in this case, the sun aligned for us perfectly. >> we came from cairo where we saw the pyramids and the museum, and now all the temples, this morning, the sunrise. it is just overwhelming. cannot comprehend in ancient

egypt how they managed to build all of this. reporter: a spiritual experience for some in a place built for worship thousands of years ago. nicole: and here is a reminder of the top story we are following for you today. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is holding talks of the white house with u.s. president joe biden. zelenskyy thanked biden and the american people for supporting ukraine in its conflict with russia. president biden said the u.s.-backed ukraine's desire for a just peace. you are watching "dw news." i will be back after a short break to take you through "the day." hope to see you there. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsle for its ption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

♪ >> a landmark visit to washington by president volodymyr zelenskyy. the ukrainian president meeting joe biden for addressing a joint session of the u.s. congress later today. putin in moscow. the russian leader telling his military chiefs more money and more soldiers will be made available with the war in ukraine. a scramble to get home in time for christmas. a cancellation of trains d