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

The U.S. Treasury Department has released details of the new sanctions that President Joe Biden announced, including the specific elites who are sanctioned and more details about limits on Russian financial institutions.

A senior Biden administration official told reporters on an afternoon call that while "these are severe costs that we're imposing today," the U.S. was choosing to hold off with more severe sanctions as leverage to try to deter a wider-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The official also said "none of the sanctions are designed to disrupt the flow of energy to global markets" and noted the administration deliberately tried to make sure the pain was felt by Russia's economy, not by the U.S.

The Treasury Department release detailed that it was sanctioning five "Kremlin-connected elites" and two Russian state-owned financial institutions, as well as putting more restrictions on Russian sovereign debt.

The administration official said "sanctions are meant to serve a higher purpose," which they said was to "prevent a large scale invasion of Ukraine that involves the seizure of major cities including Kyiv" as well as "to prevent largescale human suffering" and "to prevent Putin from installing a puppet government that bends to his wishes and denies Ukraine the freedom to set its own course and choose its own destiny."

Asked by ABC News' Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl about sanctioning Putin, the official said that "all options remain on the table."

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

Earlier in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital city which U.S. officials have warned could see an assault from Russian forces, some Ukrainians demonstrated in support of their country following Moscow's formal recognition of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.

Individuals waving Ukrainian national and European Union flags were photographed marching and shouting slogans outside the Russian embassy in central Kyiv earlier Tuesday.

In a show of solidarity, demonstrators have also flocked outside the White House in Washington and outside the Russian embassy in Berlin to decry Russian President Vladimir Putin signaling that he is deploying forces to the separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.

Following President Joe Biden's announcement from the White House of additional Russian sanctions and deployments to the region, a senior defense official offered details on U.S. forces headed to the Baltics.

The official said 800 troops from an infantry battalion task force based in Italy will move to the Baltic region, as well as up to eight F-35 fighters from Germany to "several operating locations along NATO's eastern flank."

Additionally, 20 AH-64 Apache helicopters from Germany will head to the Baltic region and 12 AH-64 Apache helicopters from Greece will head to Poland, the official said. 

"These additional personnel are being repositioned to reassure our NATO allies, deter any potential aggression against NATO member states, and train with host-nation forces," the senior defense official said in a statement. "These moves are temporary in nature, and are part of the more than 90,000 U.S. troops already in Europe on rotational and permanent orders."

-ABC News' Matt Seyler

President Joe Biden said Tuesday, "in response to Russia's admission that it will not withdraw its forces from Belarus," he has authorized "the additional movements of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe, to strengthen our Baltic allies, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania."

Biden did not provide more details other than calling the deployments "totally defensive moves on our part."

He noted "we have no intention of fighting Russia" and said it was, instead, about sending "an unmistakable message" the U.S. "will defend every inch of NATO territory."

Echoing Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reporting that the U.S. has seen Russians "stocking up their blood support supplies," Biden also used that as an example of Russia's intended purpose to invade, adding, "You don't need blood unless you plan on starting a war."

Pushing back on Russian President Vladimir Putin after Putin essentially negated the idea that Ukraine was a sovereign state, Biden said Tuesday, "the world heard clearly the full extent of Vladimir Putin's twisted rewrite of history."