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

The U.S. is suspending operations at the embassy in Belarus, where just half a dozen U.S. diplomats had been based, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced.

The U.S. is also drawing down its embassy in Moscow, authorizing the departure of non-emergency staff and diplomats' families, Blinken said in a statement.

He didn't cite any specific threat but said the department took these steps "due to security and safety issues stemming from the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine."

The U.S. special envoy for Belarus tweeted a photo showing two American diplomats taking down the flag at the embassy in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

"Belarus' complicity in Russia's war against Ukraine has shown the regime's loss of sovereign decision-making," Ambassador Julie Fisher tweeted.

Fisher said all staff have already departed the country, with some moving to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where she has been based.

While U.S. officials have been concerned that Belarusian forces will join Russia's invasion, a senior Defense Department official told reporters Monday they've seen no indication that Belarus is preparing to join. But Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko "seems to be establishing a pretext for more active involvement" in the war, according to an internal State Department situation report Sunday obtained by ABC News, including by accusing Ukraine of "beating" and "poisoning" Belarusians in Ukraine.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan, Josh Margolin, Matt Seyler

FIFA and UEFA said they are suspending all Russian national and club soccer teams from competition until further notice.

The UEFA soccer league also said it's ending its partnership with Russian gas company Gazprom.

"The decision is effective immediately and covers all existing agreements including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA national team competitions and UEFA EURO 2024," UEFA said.

Russia is restricting the flights of airlines from 36 countries "as a retaliatory measure" for the European Union's ban on Russian planes, Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency.

The countries on Russia's ban are: Austria, Albania, Anguilla (a British overseas territory), Belgium, Bulgaria, the British Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Denmark (including Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the territorial sea), Jersey, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Estonia.

The U.S., which isn't included on Russia's list, hasn't banned Russia from its airspace. However, Delta suspended its codeshare partnership with Russian airline Aeroflot on Friday.

-ABC News' Anastasia Bagaeva

The State Department said in a statement Monday that "reports of human rights abuses have been widespread" since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, pointing to attacks that killed civilians, including children, and destroyed schools, hospitals and homes.

The allegation of human rights abuses has also gone further to accusations of war crimes by Russia's military. Amnesty International reported Sunday that Russia used cluster munitions in an attack against a kindergarten that killed three civilians, including one child, which "could constitute a war crime," the human rights group said. The use of cluster munitions against civilians is a violation of international law.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has repeatedly accused Russian forces of committing war crimes, tweeting on Friday that Ukraine's general prosecutor's office is collecting reports and will send them to The Hague, adding, "responsibility is inevitable."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will address the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was set to address the same chamber but his trip was canceled “due to an unprecedented ban on his flight in the airspace of a number of EU countries," Russia's mission to the U.N. offices in Geneva said.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan