Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin suspends key US-Russia nuclear treaty

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced during a meeting with Ukraine's top prosecutor on Friday that he has authorized the first transfer of forfeited Russian assets to go toward the Ukrainian war and recovery effort.

The $5.4 million was formally ordered confiscated Thursday from sanctioned Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev. Garland's order will direct the money to the State Department for use in Ukraine under a new law signed by President Joe Biden late last year.

"The Justice Department will continue to hold accountable Russian oligarchs and others whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unprovoked and unjust war in Ukraine," Garland said in his meeting with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin. "And we will continue to work closely with our international partners to support investigation and prosecution of the atrocities that have occurred during this war."

Kostin thanked Garland for authorizing the transfer, which he said showed "the responsible party pays for the devastation that it caused."

"The reparation of tremendous human and material damage to Ukraine and Ukrainian people is an important aspect in our quest for justice," Kostin said.

-ABC News' Alex Mallin

The U.S. announced another $2.2 billion in security assistance for Ukraine on Friday.

The package includes "critical air defense capabilities to help Ukraine defend its people, as well as armored infantry vehicles and more equipment that Ukraine is using so effectively, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, artillery ammunition, and conventional and long-range rockets for U.S.-provided [High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems]," the Department of Defense said in a statement.

The weapons package includes precision-guided rockets, or Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs, which have a longer range than the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System missiles Ukraine currently has, though not as long as the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACM) missiles that Ukraine has requested.

The package includes the authorization of presidential drawdown from existing U.S. stocks valued at up to $425 million and $1.75 billion in Ukraine Assistance Security Initiative funds for new weapons purchases, the Department of Defense said.

--ABC News' Luis Martinez

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine will "fight for as long as we can" to hold on to the eastern city of Bakhmut in remarks on Friday.

"Nobody will give away Bakhmut," Zelenskyy said during a news conference with European Union officials after a summit in Kyiv, Reuters reported. "We consider Bakhmut our fortress."

"Ukraine would be able to hold Bakhmut and liberate occupied Donbas if it received long-range weapons," he added.

The remarks come as Ukrainian and Russian forces remain locked in a brutal battle in and around Bakhmut.

At least three people were killed and 21 injured in Kramatorsk after a Russian ballistic missile hit a residential building, Mayor Alexander Goncharenko said.

"Some people are still under the rubble. No goal other than terror," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday evening. "The only way to stop Russian terrorism is to defeat it. By tanks. Fighter jets. Long-range missiles."

-ABC News' William Gretsky