Russia-Ukraine updates: US to ban Russian carriers from its airspace
Biden will announce the news in his State of the Union address, a source said.
Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymr Zelenskyy, are putting up "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24 as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation."
Russians moving from Belarus towards Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, don't appear to have advanced closer towards the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the U.S., Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting Russia's economy and Putin himself.
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French embassy moving from Kyiv to Lviv
France’s embassy in Ukraine will be moved from the capital, Kyiv, to Lviv, near the Polish border, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a live interview on BFMTV.
Le Drian said, “I'm not sure President Putin imagined his operation was going to be so difficult."
He added, “Vladimir Putin has lost the communication battle” and that while “Putin wanted to divide us," "he has achieved the opposite."
US shutters embassy in Belarus, draws down embassy in Russia
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, UEFA suspend Russian teams
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 bans flights from 36 countries from their airspace
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
Blinken calls on Moscow to commit to not invading, meet next week
Secretary of State Antony Blinken closed his remarks to the U.N. Security Council meeting by challenging the Russian Federation to "announce today -- with no qualification of equivocation or deflection -- that Russia will not invade Ukraine, stated clearly stated plainly, to the world."
"And then demonstrate it by sending your troops, your tanks, your planes back to their various can hangars and sending your diplomats to the negotiating table," he added.
Blinken laid out how the U.S. believes Russia will attack Ukraine -- but said he would welcome being wrong and for Russia to withdraw.
"Now, I'm mindful that some have called into question our information, recalling previous instances where intelligence ultimately did not bear out," he said, apparently referring to a similar address then-Secretary of State Colin Powell famously made to the Security Council presenting U.S. intelligence to justify the Iraq War. "But let me be clear, I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one," he said, citing allies that agree with U.S. assessments.
"If Russia doesn't invade Ukraine, then we will be relieved that Russia changed course and proved our predictions wrong. That would be a far better outcome in the course we're currently on. And we'll gladly accept any criticism that anyone directs at us," Blinken said.
He continued, "Russia can still make if there's any truth to his claim that is committed to diplomacy. Diplomacy is the only responsible way to resolve this crisis"
Blinken also said that he sent a letter to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier Thursday proposing that they meet next week in Europe following their talks in recent weeks "to discuss the steps that we can take to resolve this crisis without conflict" and that U.S. is also proposing meetings at the NATO Russia Council and the OSC Permanent Council.
"These meetings can pave the way for a summit with key leaders in the context of de-escalation to reach understandings on our mutual security concerns," he added.