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

Biden will announce the news in his State of the Union address, a source said.

Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymr Zelenskyy, are putting up "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The attack began Feb. 24 as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation."

Russians moving from Belarus towards Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, don't appear to have advanced closer towards the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.

Russia has been met by sanctions from the U.S., Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting Russia's economy and Putin himself.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Feb 22, 2022, 11:20 AM EST

Biden to deliver afternoon remarks on Russia, Ukraine

President Joe Biden will provide an update on Russia and Ukraine from the White House at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, according to an updated official schedule.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki in an earlier tweet pledged that more U.S. measures would come "today" but did not give any further details on when or how severe they will be.

Feb 22, 2022, 10:02 AM EST

US to impose tougher sanctions on Russia, UK, EU tease same

As Ukraine calls on allies to impose harsher sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow’s recognition of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, several Western countries have announced some sanctions to start -- and warned more are coming.

The White House is expected to announce tougher sanctions on Russia Tuesday following criticism from some lawmakers that sanctions President Joe Biden announced Monday were limited.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council in Moscow, Feb. 21, 2022.
Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik via AFP/Getty Images

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson labeled Russia's actions this morning as a "renewed invasion" and announced the U.K. was sanctioning five Russian banks and three oligarchs, while the European Union weighs another set of sanctions that would ban trading in Russian state bonds and target imports and exports with separatist entities.

Top Russian officials have dismissed the new western sanctions, with Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in a state TV interview saying Russia was already "used to" sanctions and that it considers more sanctions would be imposed on Moscow regardless of what it does.

But in what may amount to a huge blow to Russia, Germany announced earlier that it would halt Nordstrom 2, a key gas pipeline, as NATO allies aim to pressure Putin into a pathway to diplomacy. White House press secretary Jen Psaki applauded the move and teased more U.S. measures would be coming "today."

Feb 22, 2022, 8:33 AM EST

Putin denies wanting to recreate Russian empire

Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Tuesday that he is seeking to rebuild the Russian empire.

In remarks ahead of his meeting with Azerbaijan’s president, Putin said he knew his recognition of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine would spark such "speculation."

"I have seen speculation that Russia wants to rebuild the Russian empire in its imperial boundaries. That absolutely does not correspond to reality," Putin said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stands as he waits to meet Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 22, 2022.
Sputnik/Kremlin pool photo via AP

The Russian leader insisted that his country recognizes the sovereignty of all former Soviet countries but said the situation with Ukraine is "different" because he claimed foreign countries are using Ukrainian territory to threaten Russia.

"Unfortunately the territory of that country is being used by third countries to create a threat to Russia itself. The issues is only in that," Putin said, adding that Russia's cooperation with Ukriane has disappeared due to the conflict that began between the Ukrainian military and Russia-backed separatist forces in 2014, which he described as a "coup."

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Feb 22, 2022, 8:28 AM EST

US embassy staff to stay in Lviv each day, in Poland at night

U.S. embassy staff who remained in Ukraine will be in the western city of Lviv during the daytime and stay in Poland each night for security reasons, amid fears of a Russian invasion, according to acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Kristina Kvien.

"We all heard the speech President Putin delivered yesterday," Kvien told reporters in Lviv on Tuesday. "His outrageous statements about Ukraine and the Ukrainian people were delusional, reflecting a warped vision reminiscent, not of a global leader, but of Europe's worst authoritarians."

The normally crowded border crossing between Poland and Ukraine is seen nearly without traffic, in Medyka, Poland, Feb. 22, 2022.
Bryan Woolston/Reuters

The U.S. embassy's skeleton staff had relocated operations to Lviv from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. They returned to Lviv on Tuesday after staying in Poland overnight, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.

-ABC News' Martha Raddatz and Sam Sweeney

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