Russia-Ukraine updates: US sanctions Russian military shipbuilder, diamond miner

During a St. Patrick's Day event at the White House Thursday evening, President Joe Biden briefly remarked on the war in Ukraine, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin "has launched an unconscionable war against Ukraine, against the very pillars of international peace and stability."

Biden said the U.S. and Ireland understand the Ukrainians' defense of their liberty.

"As two nations that have fought for freedom, we recognize the courage and determination of the Ukrainian people who defend their liberty now,” Biden said. "The Republic of Ireland and our nation have lived through war. We're determined though to help the Ukrainian people bring an end to Putin's brutal assault, and restore peace to the Ukrainian people."

He said that the U.S. and Ireland understood the plight of Ukrainian refugees and "stay united" with their international partners "to keep pressure on Putin."

"As nations that have been marked by immigrants who departed Ireland in coffin ships and immigrants who sought the safety of new beginnings in the United States, we are open, and our hearts are open, and our arms are open to help more than 3 million Ukrainian refugees who've already fled Putin's onslaught," Biden said.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

In the latest move to try to cripple Russia's economy, the House of Representatives has voted 424-8 to end normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus.

Eight Republicans voted no: Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Glenn Grothman, Thomas Massie and Chip Roy.

The legislation strips Russia and Belarus of their permanent normal trade relations statuses and expands President Joe Biden’s power by allowing him to raise tariffs on the countries’ products.

It also gives the Biden administration the authority to impose further sanctions on Russia and its allies by expanding the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act; according to the bill's text, Biden may impose sanctions on foreign persons who are “responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse."

The legislation also calls on the World Trade Organization to suspend Russia’s participation by revoking its “most favored nation” status, which would allow higher tariff rates to be imposed on Russian goods.

The legislation now heads to the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to move it along quickly.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Mariam Khan

The nearest Russian forces to Kyiv are still about 9 miles to the northwest of the city's center, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters on Thursday. This is the same distance the troops were estimated to be last Friday.

The Russians haven't been able to advance because Ukrainian forces "are very actively resisting any movement," the official said. But Russia maintains an advantage with long-range weaponry, the official added.

While those nearest Russian troops have stalled, other forces are coming to join them, bringing long-range artillery pieces, the official said.

"So it appears that they continue to want to conduct a siege of Kyiv, that's what you want to use artillery for," the official said. "We haven't seen that manifest itself, we're just seeing them move them into place."

The only notable movement since Wednesday is that Russian forces are assessed to have taken control of Izyum, a city in eastern Ukraine, the official said. The Pentagon believes the Russians intend to push south toward Donetsk and Mariupol to seal off the Donbas area, the official said. This could be to prevent Ukrainian troops in the east from moving westward to defend other areas.

Russia has now launched more than 1,000 missiles against Ukraine, up from an estimate of 980 on Wednesday, according to the official. These estimates count missile launches, not necessarily effective hits, the official said.

"We have seen an increase of strikes on civilian infrastructure and civilian targets," the official said, but could not offer numbers.

-ABC News' Matt Seyler

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Thursday that he "personally" agrees with President Joe Biden that Russia is committing war crimes by intentionally targeting civilians in Ukraine.

Blinken said State Department experts from the Office of Global Criminal Justice are documenting and evaluating evidence for a formal determination and will share those findings with those responsible for accountability.

"There's going to have to be, one way or another, accountability for this war of aggression," Blinken said.

While Ukrainian officials have been engaged in talks with Russian counterparts, Blinken expressed pessimism about the talks, saying the U.S. hasn't seen "any meaningful effort" by Russia to end the war through diplomacy. If anything, Blinken warned, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated in his remarks Wednesday that he's doubling down on military aggression.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan