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

The United States announced Friday its plans to sell $6 billion of new military aid to Poland, amid the threat of war between neighboring Ukraine and Russia.

The proposed sale includes 250 Abrams main battle tanks, 250 short-range jamming systems that counter improvised explosive devices, 26 combat recovery vehicles, nearly 800 machines guns and much more, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of State.

The announcement came as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with his Polish counterpart in Warsaw to discuss concerns regarding the massive buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine, which U.S. and NATO officials say position Moscow for an imminent invasion. Poland is a key eastern European ally to the U.S. and a fellow member of NATO.

"Some of those forces [are] within 200 miles of the Polish border," Austin said during a joint press conference in the Polish capital on Friday. "If Russia further invades Ukraine, Poland could see tens of thousands of displaced Ukrainians and others flowing across its border, trying to save themselves and their families from the scourge of war."

Austin said the U.S. now has an additional 4,700 troops in Poland "who are prepared to respond to a range of contingencies."

"They will work closely with our State Department and with Polish authorities should there be any need to help American citizens leave Ukraine," he added.

The planned sale of more military aid to Poland "will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe," according to the State Department.

"The proposed sale will improve Poland’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing a credible force that is capable of deterring adversaries and participating in NATO operations," the State Department said in a statement Friday. "Poland will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces."

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan

Russia is concerned about the ongoing escalation of tensions in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and believes the events unfolding there post a major potential threat, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

"What is happening in Donbas is very disquieting news, which provokes concern," Peskov told reporters during a daily call. "It is potentially very dangerous."

When asked how Putin has been sleeping amid the rising tensions, Peskov said: "Equally well." He then added after a brief pause: "But with one eye open."

-ABC News' Anastasia Bagaeva

Russian President Vladimir Putin will personally oversee massive drills of his country's strategic nuclear forces on Saturday, including test launches of ballistic and cruise missiles, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced Friday.

The defense ministry said in a statement that the drills were "planned" as part of large-scale military exercises currently taking place across Russia. Saturday's drills are meant to check "the preparedness of military commands and crews of missile systems, warships and strategic bombers to accomplish their missions and at verifying the reliability of weapons of strategic nuclear and conventional forces," according to the defense ministry.

"The exercise will involve forces and hardware belonging to the Aerospace Forces, the Southern Military District, the Strategic Missile Forces, the Northern Fleet, and the Black Sea Fleet," the defense ministry said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin will be at the defense ministry's Situational Center during the drills Saturday and that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko might join him.

"Even test launches of this type are impossible without the head of state," Peskov told reporters during a daily call Friday. "You all know about his famed 'black briefcase,' 'the red button' and so on."

Peskov said the drills shouldn't cause concern among other countries because they were notified of the upcoming exercises in advance.

When asked whether such drills could exacerbate tensions, Peskov replied: "Exercises and training launches of ballistic missiles are quite a regular training process. It is preceded by a whole series of notifications forwarded to different countries via various channels. All this is precisely regulated and no one has any questions or concerns."

The drills will also coincide with the finale of the major joint military exercises in neighboring Belarus.

U.S. military officials have previously warned that Russia could conduct these drills now, saying the timing might be in order to signal to the West not to interfere in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It's also another opportunity for posturing as Putin has done many times before, placing himself at the end of demonstrations of military might. In recent years he has repeatedly hailed a range of new Russian nuclear super weapons, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile and hypersonic weapons.

-ABC News' Anastasia Bagaeva and Patrick Reevell

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday, as their countries continue to hold massive joint military exercises that Western countries fear could be used to cover up preparations for a possible invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

While Russia and Belarus have said that Russian troops will leave after the drills conclude Sunday, the United States remains concerned they may stay.

Earlier this week, Lukashenko indicated that he and Putin would decide at their meeting Friday how long Russian troops would stay in Belarus. Video released by Belarusian state media showed the authoritarian leader arriving at Moscow's airport Friday morning.

Russia has moved an unprecedented number of troops into Belarus as part of its wider military build-up near Ukraine. There is an estimated 30,000 Russian troops in Belarus, which is only a few hours drive north of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Concerns have been heightened because Russia has moved most of the troops from its Eastern Military District in Russia's Far East, some 6,000 miles away. Among them are many units required for an offensive, including long range artillery, fighter bombers, attack helicopters and airborne troops.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell