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

Russia is demanding legally binding agreements to remove troops and infrastructure from NATO allies that joined after 1997, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday.

In addition to the significant sanctions imposed against Russia, NATO allies must stand ready to do more, Stoltenberg said, even if it means "we have to pay a price -- because we are in this for the long haul."   

The U.S., Canada and European allies have deployed thousands of more troops to the eastern part of the alliance, Stolentenberg said. Over 100 jets and more than 120 ships are operating on high alert in more than 30 locations, he said. 

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson will introduce sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on top of the sanctions package announced Thursday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

The announcement was made during a Friday call with NATO leaders.

“The Prime Minister told the group that a catastrophe was engulfing Ukraine, and President Putin was engaging in a revanchist mission to over-turn post-Cold War order. He warned the group that the Russian President’s ambitions might not stop there and that this was a Euro-Atlantic crisis with global consequences," the Downing Street spokesperson said.

“The Prime Minister urged leaders to take immediate action against SWIFT to inflict maximum pain on President Putin and his regime," the spokesperson added.

If Russia was cut off from the SWIFT -- the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication international banking system -- it would significantly hinder Russia's participation in global markets.

-ABC News' Guy Davies

A U.S. official alleges that Russia is deploying a disinformation campaign to damage Ukrainians' morale through false reports about Ukrainian troops surrendering or through planned threats to kill the family members of Ukraine's military troops.

"We commend the Ukrainian people for showing strength and determination in response to an unprovoked attack by a significantly larger military," the official said. "We are concerned, however, that Russia plans to discourage them and induce surrender through disinformation."

Earlier Friday, Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed that more than 150 Ukrainian service members "laid down their arms and surrendered," even providing names and figures for where they say these surrenders took place.

"After the stabilization of the situation in the combat area, all surrendered Ukrainian servicemen will be released home," the Ministry of Defense said.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan, Anastasia Bagaeva

NATO has activated its NATO Response Force, marking the first time the alliance has activated the potentially 40,000-person force for “a deterrence and defence" role, according to a NATO spokesperson. This means that the 8,500 American troops put on heightened alert in late January for this mission could soon be ordered to Europe.

The decision follows a meeting of NATO ministers Friday morning in Brussels.

To be activated, the 30 members of NATO must all agree to activate the force, which is under the command of Gen. Told Wolters, the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez