Russia-Ukraine updates: US to ban Russian carriers from its airspace

Top House Republicans are criticizing the Biden administration for its handling of the evolving crisis in Ukraine.

The ranking members on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee released a joint statement Monday, saying it was a "dangerous mistake" by the administration to say it will impose sanctions on Russia if and only if they invade Ukraine -- and not before. 

They also said the sanctions previewed by the White House thus far "are the definition of impotence," calling for forceful sanctions to be imposed starting now. 

No. 3 House Republican Elise Stefanik (R-NY) tweeted Monday that Biden is "unfit" to be commander-in-chief.

"Joe Biden is unable to stand up to Putin," she tweeted. "He is unfit to be our Commander-in-chief."

A growing group of GOP senators are also calling for the Biden administration to severely sanction Russia for Putin's decision to recognize Russian-backed separatist territories.

Sen. Lindsey Graham is also intensifying calls for sanctions with a series of tweets calling into question the "will" of the administration to act. 

"It’s clear that after the debacle in Afghanistan, every thuggish figure on the planet is licking their chops, including the Iranians and the Chinese," Graham tweeted. "I stand ready, willing and able to work with the Biden Administration to impose the most crushing sanctions possible on the Russian economy. The question is whether the Biden Administration has the will and determination to do so."

House Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said that Russia's actions on Monday, including the recognizing and ordering of troops into Ukraine separatist regions, qualifies as an invasion, saying the Biden administration must impose "crippling" sanctions now. 

"Russia has invaded Ukraine," Cheney tweeted. "The Biden Administration and our allies must impose full set of crippling sanctions now."

-ABC News’ Mariam Khan and Alison Pecorin

In his speech Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned Ukraine's historical legitimacy as a country and made clear he will not tolerate it pulling away from Russia.

Putin said he considers the current government in Kyiv to be illegitimate, describing it as "those that seized and cling to power" and engaging in a long, detailed exposition arguing that modern Ukraine was a Soviet creation.

Putin lambasted the leaders of Ukraine’s 2014 revolution and accused the country's government of being entirely under the control of the West, saying the revolution had led to "terror" and economic failure. 

At one point, Putin challenged Ukraine’s efforts to break away from its Soviet past, implying that if wanted to do that it should accept being dismembered.

"You want decommunization? Well, decommunization suits us very well," Putin said. "Let us show you what real decommunization means for Ukraine."

The implication was that a pro-Western "nationalist" elite has hijacked Ukraine and is trying to pull it away from Russia and should therefore be removed. 

Putin then painted modern Ukraine as ungrateful, immature and accused it of taking advantage of Russia, which he represented as having tried to be the benevolent senior partner.

"Russia did everything to preserve Ukraine’s territorial," Putin said.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell

Russia is continuing to prepare for an invasion into Ukraine "in coming hours or days," a senior U.S. administration official told reporters on a call Monday. 

The big question now is whether Putin’s move to put security forces on the ground in the separatist region constitutes an invasion in the eyes of the west, therefore triggering the severe sanctions Western countries have been threatening.

The administration is still "observing and assessing" exactly what Russia is doing, the official said, adding that there will likely be more sanctions on Tuesday. 

When pressed by reporters on whether Putin started an invasion or triggered sanctions with his move on Monday, the official responded that Russian troops have been in the region for years.

The senior administration official heavily criticized the speech Putin made Monday as making "clear his true design," which was to persuade Russian citizens to "justify war."

"This wasn't a speech just about Russia's security," the official said. "It was an attack on the very idea of a sovereign and independent Ukraine. He made clear that he views Ukraine historically as part of Russia and made a number of false claims about Ukraine's intention that seems designed to excuse possible military action. This was a speech to the Russian people to justify a war. In fact, he once again explicitly threatened one."

-ABC News' Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega and Justin Gomez

The U.K. will announce new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday "in response to their breach of international law and attack on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Monday. 

Earlier in the day, Truss said the recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic as independent states "demonstrates Russia's decision to choose a path of confrontation over dialogue."

"We will not allow Russia's violation of its international commitments to go unpunished," Truss said.

The decision to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine was an "ill omen" and a flagrant breach of international law, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

Johnson spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday evening. Johnson outlined "his grave concern at recent developments in the region" and told Zelenskyy "that he believed an invasion was a real possibility in the coming hours and days," according to a Downing Street spokesperson. 

"The leaders agreed that the West needed to support Ukraine in the event of an invasion but should continue to pursue a diplomatic solution until the last possible second," the spokesperson said.

-ABC News’ Guy Davies and Somayeh Malekian