President Joe Biden speaks about Ukraine in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, in Washington. AP
In a speech at the White House, Biden said that the United States would continue to supply "defensive" weapons to Ukraine against a Russian invasion and deploy more US troops to reinforce NATO allies in Eastern Europe.
"I have authorized additional movements of US forces and equipment, already stationed in Europe, to strengthen our Baltic allies, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania," Biden said.
"Let me be clear, these are totally defensive moves on our part."
Biden also announced what he called the "first tranche" of sanctions against Russia, including steps to starve the country of financing, saying Moscow had started an invasion of Ukraine.
"We're implementing sanctions on Russia's sovereign debt. That means we've cut off Russia's government from Western financing," Biden said.
The measures also would target financial institutions, and Russian "elites," the US leader said.
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