Russia-Ukraine updates: 2 US veterans who joined Ukrainian forces missing

The European Union's top official called on the 27-nation bloc on Wednesday to gradually ban oil imports from Russia as part of a sixth set of sanctions against Moscow for its war in Ukraine.

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed that member nations "phase out" imports of Russian crude oil within six months and refined oil products from Russia by the end of the year. She also recommended sanctions targeting Russia's biggest bank and major broadcasters.

"We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion, in a way that allows us and our partners to secure alternative supply routes and minimizes the impact on global markets," von der Leyen said. "Thus, we maximise pressure on Russia, while at the same time minimising collateral damage to us and our partners around the globe. Because to help Ukraine, our own economy has to remain strong."

The proposals must be unanimously approved to take effect. Von der Leyen admitted that getting all 27 member countries to agree on oil sanctions "will not be easy." Hungary and Slovakia, both of which are highly dependent on Russian energy, have already demanded exemptions.

"Some member states are strongly dependent on Russian oil. But we simply have to work on it," she said. "We now propose a ban on Russian oil. This will be a complete import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined."

President Joe Biden toured a Lockheed Martin facility in Troy, Alabama, where weapons systems such as Javelin anti-tank missiles are manufactured.

"The United States is leading our allies and partners around the world to make sure the courageous Ukrainians who are fighting for the future of their nation have the weapons and the capacity and the ammunition and the equipment to defend themselves against Putin's brutal war," Biden said at the facility.

To the Lockheed Martin employees, Biden said, "You make it possible."

"You're allowing the Ukrainians to defend themselves and quite frankly, they're making fools of the Russian military in many instances. A big part of the reason they've been able to keep up fighting and to make this war a strategic failure for Russia is because the United States together with our allies and partners have had their back," he said.

"You're changing people's lives," Biden said. "We built the weapons and equipment that helped defend freedom and sovereignty in Europe years ago. That’s true again today."

The president also urged Congress to pass his $33 billion supplemental aid package.

These highly lethal missiles can hit targets up to 2.5 miles away and have been key in Ukraine’s defense against Russia. The U.S. has sent over 5,500 Javelin anti-armor systems to so far, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

-ABC News' Armando Tonatiuh Torres-García

Ukrainian troops are already putting U.S. howitzers into the fight against Russia, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told senators Tuesday.

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the 2023 defense budget, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., asked Austin whether Ukrainian forces have the training they need to use the 90 American 155mm artillery systems the U.S. is sending to aid in the battle, especially in the eastern part of the country.

"They're using them as we speak," Austin said. "As you may know, we took a number of troops out and trained them up very quickly on 155s, put them back into action, and they are employing those weapons systems now."

A senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday that some 200 Ukrainians have now been trained to use the M777 artillery pieces. The training was done by both U.S. and Canadian forces outside of Ukraine. Another 50 Ukrainians will begin howitzer training at an undisclosed location later this week.

The Ukrainian troops leaving the country to learn the American systems are already artillerymen, so training takes only about a week, according to U.S. officials. When they return they teach others what they learned.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters on Monday that a "significant majority" of the 90 howitzers committed to Ukraine have arrived in country. The U.S. is also sending 184,000 artillery rounds for the weapons.

-ABC News' Matt Seyler

Civilians, including women, children and the elderly, trapped for weeks inside the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol have arrived safely in Zaporizhzhia, according to the United Nations.

A woman evacuated from the plant told ABC News in Russian, "They bombed us every day ... at night, in the morning."

"It was horrible. It is just the complete elimination of all people," she said.

"I'm relieved to confirm that the safe passage operation from Mariupol has been successful," tweeted Osnat Lubrani, the U.N.'s resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine. "The people I travelled with told me heartbreaking stories of the hell they went through. I'm thinking about the people who remain trapped. We will do all we can to assist them."

Lubrani said 101 civilians were brought out of the plant and another 58 civilians from the Mariupol area joined the evacuation. The youngest was 6 months old, she said.

"It was moving and horrifying to sort of witness people that have been locked in darkness, living under incessant shelling, coming and seeing the sky for the first time in two months," Lubrani said at a Tuesday briefing.

Lubrani said some were too frightened to come out. She said they were in contact with about 30 civilians who chose not to leave, because they couldn't leave without going back into the city to find out the fate of their loved ones.

For others, Lubrani said, it was physically challenging to leave.

They had also lacked proper access to water, food and sanitation, she noted.

Many more people remain trapped at the plant. The sprawling industrial site is the last holdout for the Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, as Russian forces accelerate their efforts to fully capture city. The Mariupol City Council has previously said there are at least 1,000 people, including Ukrainian troops, on the grounds of the Azovstal plant.

-ABC News' Zoe Magee and Christine Theodorou