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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US, allies agree to release of 60 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves
The 31 countries on the International Energy Agency's Governing Board have agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their 1.5 billion barrels of emergency reserves "to send a unified and strong message to global oil markets that there will be no shortfall in supplies as a result of Russia’s invasion," the IEA said in a statement.
Half of this release -- 30 million barrels -- will come from the U.S. strategic reserve, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Russia is the biggest oil exporter on the globe and the third-largest producer, the IEA said.
677,000 people have fled Ukraine
Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said the number of Ukrainians who've fled their country has climbed to 677,000.
Western officials walk out during Lavrov remarks
Diplomats from Western countries were seen on video walking out in protest as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addressed the U.N. Human Rights Council and Conference on Disarmament.
The meeting was held Tuesday in Geneva and Lavrov gave his address via video.
The Human Rights Council has faced criticism for years for including human rights abusers, including Russia. In a prerecorded video to the council, Secretary of State Antony Blinken questioned whether Russia should be allowed to keep its seat.
"One can reasonably ask whether a U.N. member state that tries to take over another U.N. member state -- while committing horrific human rights abuses and causing massive humanitarian suffering -- should be allowed to remain on this council," he said.
Blinken accused Russia of hitting civilian targets like schools, hospitals, residential buildings, critical infrastructure, and cars, buses, and ambulances -- including the "monstrous rocket strikes" on an apartment complex in Kharkiv.
"Reports of Russia's human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law mount by the hour," he said.
"These are the human rights abuses this council was created to stop. If we cannot come together now, when will we come together?" he asked.
-ABC News' Fergal Gallagher, Conor Finnegan
'Growing number' of unaccompanied and separated refugee children
Filippo Grandi, U.N. high commissioner for refugees, told the Security Council Monday there's “a growing number of unaccompanied and separated children" in the unending lines of refugees fleeing Ukraine.
UNICEF said there are "anecdotal reports of heartbreaking stories of fathers -- or families -- arriving at the border with their children and relinquishing them to the border guards, then remaining in Ukraine.”
UNICEF said it doesn't have numbers yet on unaccompanied or separated children.
-ABC News' Zoe Magee
NATO: 'Russia continues their military build-up'
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Wednesday that Russia has still shown no signs of de-escalation on the ground, despite claims of withdrawing troops from near Ukraine.
"We have heard the signs from Moscow about the readiness to continue diplomatic efforts, but so far we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground," Stoltenberg said during a press conference outside NATO headquarters in Brussels. "On the contrary, it appears that Russia continues their military build-up."
NATO continues to monitor the situation "very closely," as it remains unclear whether Russia is pulling back, according to Stoltenberg.
"What we see is that they have increased the number of troops and more troops are on their way," he told reporters. "So, so far, no de-escalation but of course, we hear also the message about diplomacy and we are ready to engage in diplomatic efforts with Russia."
Stoltenberg explained that the Russian military has "always moved forces back and forth."
"So, just that we see movement of forces of battle tanks doesn't confirm a real withdrawal," he said. "It has been a big up and down, back and forth, all the way, but the trend over the last weeks and months has been a steady increase in the Russian capabilities close to Ukraine's borders. So Russia retains the capability of a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine without any warning time."
As of Wednesday morning, there were still approximately 100,000 Russian troops at Ukraine's borders, including in Belarus, according to Stoltenberg, who said he hopes the dialogue with Russia will continue and that the claims of withdrawal are true "because nobody has any interest in confrontation or war in Europe."
"We are at a pivotal moment in the history of Ukraine, Europe and global stability," he added. "We look forward to seeing evidence of the withdrawal of troops on Russia's part, but we need to prepare for any eventuality, with that significant escalation of Russian troops that we have seen over the last weeks and months."
Stoltenberg's comments came ahead of a meeting of the military alliance's defense ministers, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, to discuss the current crisis.
