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

Japan announced it is joining the U.S. and other European countries to disconnect selected Russian banks from the SWIFT system and sanction President Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders.

Japan's announcement means the entire G-7 supports removing Russia from the crucial messaging system used by large banks around the world.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki released a statement Sunday praising Japanese officials for their decision.

"Prime Minister Kishida and the government of Japan have been leaders in condemning President Putin’s attack on Ukraine and we will continue working closely together to impose further severe costs and make Putin’s war of choice a strategic failure," she said in a statement.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

Russian missiles struck the site of a radioactive waste disposal facility in Kyiv overnight, Ukrianian officials told the International Atomic Energy Agency.

There were no reports of damage or any indications of a radioactive release, according to the IAEA.

The strike came a day after an electrical transformer at a similar disposal facility near the northeastern city of Kharkiv had been damaged. There were no reports of radioactive release at that facility.

“These two incidents highlight the very real risk that facilities with radioactive material will suffer damage during the conflict, with potentially severe consequences for human health and the environment,”  IAEA Director General Mariano Grossi said in a statement.

The disposal facilities typically hold disused radioactive sources and other low-level waste from hospitals and industry, according to the IAEA.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

In the first response to Russia raising the alert status of its strategic nuclear force, a senior U.S. defense official described the move as an "escalatory one."

The official pointed out that Russia has never been under threat by NATO or Ukraine and warned that Russia's heightened alert status is "clearly potentially putting at play forces that could if there's a miscalculation make things much, much more dangerous."

"We believe that this is not only an unnecessary step for him (Russian President Vladimir Putin) to take but an escalatory one," the official said. "Russia has never been under threat by NATO. Ukraine did not threaten Russia."

The official would not discuss the status of the U.S. nuclear force, saying "we do not talk about ... specifics of our strategic deterrent posture."

"I would just tell you that we remain confident in our ability to defend ourselves and our allies and our partners, and that includes in the strategic deterrent realm," the official said.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

Ukraine has agreed to send a delegation to meet with Russian negotiators for talks at the border between Belarus and Ukraine, according to a spokesman for Ukraine’s president’s office.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to the step during a phone call with Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the two sides have agreed to meet at the Pripyat river on the border, north of Chernobyl. That area is currently under Russian military control.

Russia earlier sent a delegation to the city of Gomel in southern Belarus to “be ready” for talks but Ukraine refused to hold them in Belarus since it is actively taking part in the invasion.

The Russian delegation includes officials from Russia’s foreign and defense ministries as well as the presidential administration.

-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell