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

U.S. embassy staff that remained in Ukraine in Lviv have been moved to Poland for the night for security reasons, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Monday. 

The diplomats "will spend the night in Poland," Blinken said, but their departure may be open-ended. They "will regularly return to continue their diplomatic work in Ukraine and provide emergency consular services," Blinken added, without offering more details.

As the U.S. has done for weeks, Blinken urged U.S. citizens to depart the country immediately amid the threat of a Russian invasion "at any moment.” Commercial flights could soon be "severely" restricted, Blinken warned, because of "any Russian military operations."

The State Department has stationed support teams near the Ukrainian border in Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, along with the U.S. citizen welcome center it opened in Poland last week, Blinken said.

-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan

Democrats are now joining Republicans in the call for stricter sanctions against Russia in the wake of President Vladimir Putin's decision to recognize two separatist regions in Ukraine as independent. 

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is calling for "crushing sanctions" if "any additional Russian troops or proxy forces cross into Donbas."

"There must be tangible, far-reaching and substantial costs for Russia in response to this unjustified act," Menendez said. 

Sen. Chris Coons, a close ally of President Joe Biden and a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called for "significant" action to be taken against Russia. 

"The time for taking action to impose significant costs on President Putin and the Kremlin starts now," Coons said late Monday, adding that the U.S. must "swiftly" join NATO allies and European Union partners "to impose forceful new sanctions on Russia."

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Allie Pecorin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he considers the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize two separatist regions as independent to be a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.
"According to Article 51 of the UN Charter, Ukraine reserves the right to individual and collective self-defense," the president said. "We can well distinguish between provocations and attacks by the aggressor's troops."
Zelenskyy said Russia’s decision constitutes a de facto exit from the Minsk agreements, which attempted to end the fighting in the East but was vaguely written. Its interpretation is disputed by both sides.

The president noted that he initiated an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council and the Normandy 4 -- Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia.

He added that Ukraine was committed to diplomacy but noted that they are ready to defend the country.

There’s no need to panic, Zelenskyy said, adding that he is "committed to a peaceful and diplomatic path," but also noting that it’s not 2014, it’s 2022. "This is another country, another army," he said.

We are not afraid of anything or anyone," Zelenskyy said. "We owe nothing to anyone. And we will not give anything to anyone."

-ABC News’ Kirit Radia

The United Nations Security Council will meet Monday at 9 p.m. ET on the unfolding crisis in Ukraine.  

Ukraine, which requested the meeting, will be allowed to participate even though it is not a member of the council. 

The U.S., U.K., Albania, Ireland, France, Norway, Mexico and France -- all current or permanent members of the council -- backed the meeting, a U.S. official told ABC News. 

Russia, as council president, is responsible for scheduling meetings. With so many countries in favor, it likely could not have blocked this one. 

In its letter requesting the meeting, Ukraine accused Russia of "ongoing aggravation of the security situation," violating "Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity - the fundamental principles enshrined in the Article 2 of the UN Charter" and endangering "international peace and security," according to a copy of the letter obtained by ABC News.

-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan