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(WASHINGTON) — Hours after an emotional address to Congress by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where he pleaded for a no-fly zone and more lethal U.S. aid, President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced the U.S. is increasing its supply of missiles, firearms, and now drones to Ukraine in a public display.

The White House has now detailed exactly what weaponry the U.S. is providing — when just weeks ago U.S. officials refused to say.

The message is meant to not only reassure Ukraine of strong U.S. support, but also send a message to Moscow that it will pay a bloody price for its invasion of its neighbor.

“The American people are answering President Zelenskyy’s call for more help, more weapons for Ukraine to defend itself, more tools to fight Russian aggression, and that’s what we’re doing,” Biden said in an address Wednesday.

That increase comes after intense pressure from Kyiv, as well as Washington, where lawmakers of both parties have urged Biden to escalate U.S. military support.

But the president has repeatedly cautioned against crossing certain lines, saying they would lead to “World War III.” Among them, the administration has ruled out implementing a no-fly zone, sending U.S. troops into Ukrainian territory, or having the U.S. directly provide Soviet-era warplanes from NATO allies like Poland.

Instead, Biden said that an initial tranche of $800 million — from the nearly $14 billion Congress approved in humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine — would include 800 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, 100 Switchblade drones, and 9,000 anti-armor missiles, including 2,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles.

The Switchblade drone is the newest form of lethal assistance — a small kamikaze-style drone launched from a tube that can track and attack armored targets.

Ukrainian armed forces have made powerful use of drones in their fight against invading Russian forces already, although some military analysts say the Switchblade is not powerful enough and the U.S. isn’t sending enough of them.

“The Switchblade is a capable system, but has its drawbacks compared to some more modern versions of ‘loitering munitions’… that you can return to base and re-use,” said retired Gen. Robert Abrams, former chief of U.S. Forces Korea and now an ABC News analyst.

To date, Ukraine has received thousands of Javelin missiles from the U.S. and other NATO allies, according to a U.S. official — including approximately 2,600 from the U.S., the White House announced Wednesday.

Javelins were once seen as too escalatory by the Obama administration to provide Ukraine after Russia first invaded its smaller, democratic neighbor in 2014, seizing the Crimean Peninsula and sparking a separatist war in the eastern provinces Donetsk and Luhansk.

Now, the White House is confirming not just the delivery of thousands of them, but of hundreds of Stinger missiles, too — something it wouldn’t confirm it was delivering even days into the war.

Still, there are many who say more must be done, from U.S. lawmakers to Ukrainian officials to leaders of NATO countries in the alliance’s eastern flank.

After meeting Zelenskyy in Kyiv, for example, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful leader of Poland’s ruling party who serves as deputy prime minister, told reporters an international peacekeeping mission should be sent to Ukraine, with the means to defend itself.

U.S. officials have ruled that out, starting with Biden and stretching to include Republican lawmakers.

“[A] NATO no-fly zone seems to be a bridge too far for me and the administration,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

But he added that “there is bipartisan support for sending a package that includes fighter jets and air defense systems to Ukraine immediately so that we can have a Ukrainian no-fly zone manned by Ukrainian pilots and manned by missile systems in the hands of the Ukrainian military.”

The administration is consulting with U.S. allies that have more advanced missile systems than the shoulder-fired Stingers and Javelins that have been provided so far, according to State Department and Pentagon officials. In particular, there are talks to resupply Soviet-era or Russian-made missile systems, they said — such as the S-300 missile battery.

“Those are the systems on which they’re already using, the systems on which they’re already trained and have actually demonstrated great effect already,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Wednesday.

Only three NATO allies have the S-300 — Greece, Bulgaria, and Slovakia. Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke on Wednesday to his Greek counterpart, Dr. Thanos Dokos, including about “international efforts … to ensure Ukraine has the ability to defend itself,” the White House said.

But the Pentagon has rejected an idea from Poland to have Polish Soviet-era warplanes known as MiG-29s transferred to U.S. custody and then passed onto Ukraine, saying a U.S. intelligence assessment warned the move would be seen as too escalatory by the Kremlin.

“The equipment that we provided is defensive, as you know, not offensive, and we see that as being a difference,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

To some, any lethal U.S. aid may be seen as crossing Putin’s red line after the strongman leader warned the world that countries interfering in his so-called “special military operation” would face “consequences you have never seen.”

U.S. officials have said they’re still encouraging other countries to provide warplanes directly, but lawmakers continue to press the White House to get involved, especially after Zelenskyy’s address.

“Never in the history of warfare have 28 planes meant so much to so many,” said Graham Wednesday.

Ukraine already has a fleet of MiG-29s that the Pentagon has said they are not using often in part because Russia has not dominated the country’s airspace.

In addition, fewer than half of Poland’s planes may be flyable, according to retired Gen. Joseph Ralston, the former commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe. The Soviet-era planes require spare parts from Russia — out of the question in the current conflict — and constant maintenance, although providing their spare parts to the Ukrainians now be helpful, he said.

“The MiG-29 issue has taken on more of a symbolic issue than it is a real-world issue,” Ralston said during an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

While the White House has publicly touted this aid in the midst of pressure to do more, it’s been very tight-lipped about how it is getting into Ukrainian hands. Russia has made clear that the delivery of military aid is a potential “target.”

“Pumping Ukraine with weapons from a number of countries orchestrated by them is not just a dangerous move, but these are actions that turn the corresponding convoys into legitimate targets,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state-run Channel One news agency.

A strike Sunday in western Ukraine, just 10 miles from the Polish border, has brought that risk home, killing 35 people and injuring more than 100.

“We have to act and act quickly. It’s not a matter of weeks, it’s a matter of hours and days,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report from the Pentagon and Trish Turner from Capitol Hill.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for his violent invasion Ukraine, including attacks on civilians.

The president initially told a reporter “no,” when asked if he was ready to label Putin a war criminal, but moments later Biden circled back, asking her to repeat the question which he appeared to have initially misunderstood.

“I think he is a war criminal,” Biden said.

BREAKING: Pres. Biden calls Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin a ” war criminal.” https://t.co/ORuOYE3lBs pic.twitter.com/9XHbwoCZrq

— ABC News (@ABC) March 16, 2022

A short time later, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was speaking “from the heart” at an afternoon press briefing after he made the comment, while carefully noting there is still a State Department review of whether it considers Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians a war crime.

Despite the evidence, the White House until now had gone out of its way not to label Putin a war criminal, repeatedly noting there was an official review underway before they could formally accuse Putin of war crimes.

Earlier this month, Biden said it was “clear” Russian forces were targeting civilian areas but said that it was too early to call them war crimes.

“Do you believe Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine?” Biden was asked on March 2.

“We are following it very closely. It’s early to say that,” he said.

The shift in characterization follows a wave of U.S. sanctions on Russia including personal sanctions on Putin and following a powerful appeal from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to Congress, in which he called on Biden to do more to aid Ukraine.

One year ago to the day that Russia forces began invading Ukraine, Biden told ABC News Anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview that be believed Putin was a “killer.”

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(WASHINGTON) — A major effort to combat climate change — reducing methane emissions — is now underway as $1.15 billion flows to states to help close unused oil and gas wells that release pollution and greenhouse gases.

The funds stem from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which in total allocated $4.7 billion over nine years for a new federal program to address orphan wells. This is the first funding phase.

There are over 130,000 orphaned wells across the country, according to a preliminary analysis from the Department of the Interior.

“This is something I have heard about from the day I became a senator. And it’s got the support of counties all across the state because they see the need to clean up these leaking wells in their backyards,” said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., in an interview with ABC News. Colorado is now receiving $39,006,000 to clean up the wells.

Although the terms “orphaned” and “abandoned” are often used interchangeably, a significant component distinguishes orphaned wells and makes them more difficult to find.

“There’s no known owner like it’s truly — it’s just out there in the wild, nobody can be attached to it,” said Josh Axelrod, a senior advocate for the National Resources Defense Council.

In these instances, the lack of a known owner means the burden for cleanup ends up falling on state governments and, in turn, taxpayers. It also makes the wells more challenging to track.

While state governments and environmental groups have worked on their own to fill wells, the process can take years, with residents struggling to get wells filled in their own backyards.

The new funding focuses specifically on orphaned wells, a subset of the estimated 2 to 3 million abandoned wells in the United States that, combined, release greenhouse gases equal to 1.5 to 4 million cars annually, according to the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

They are the nation’s tenth-largest methane emitters, according to a study conducted at McGill University, and the gas warms the planet at 80 times the rate of carbon dioxide.

Various groups are working with states to find unidentified orphaned wells through multiple processes, including using drones. The funding from the infrastructure bill only addresses already-identified wells.

There are currently 9 million Americans who live within one mile of an orphaned well, according to a study conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund and McGill University.

Tyson Price, an elementary school principal in West Virginia, worries the well in his backyard is polluting the local river and harming deer that frequently use it as a drinking source. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for closing wells and maintains a list that ranks cleanup projects in order of urgency.

“Two years ago, I was 43 on the list in West Virginia. And a couple of weeks ago, I reached back out to the DEP… I’m in the 60s now; I think it was 65. So in that two-year span, I’ve actually moved down the list,” said Price, who has spent six years trying to get the well closed.

On top of gaseous pollutants, orphaned wells can leak leftover oil and carry a risk of combusting. But the cost, technical challenges and environmental concerns prevent residents from dealing with the wells on their own. The cleanup process requires filling the wells with cement and restoring the surfaces.

“There’s just no way that I could afford to plug this thing myself and do it, you know, in an environmentally safe way,” Price said.

Although Tyson and his family have felt no ill effects from the well, reports have emerged of health issues brought on by proximity to unplugged wells. West Virginia is now receiving $55,293,000 from the first round of funding to help clean up the state’s 6,309 orphaned wells.

The push to close the wells comes as global methane emissions have ballooned in recent years, according to new data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. At last year’s COP26 climate summit, President Joe Biden and other world leaders announced a Global Methane Pledge to cut emissions 30% by 2030.

“It’s a fundamental part of our energy transition in this country to make sure that we don’t leave these orphan wells behind…I would expect there to be real momentum to do whatever is necessary to clean up the rest,” Bennet said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Speaking just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on him to be a “leader for peace,” President Joe Biden on Wednesday is expected to detail how much military aid the U.S. is already providing — or will provide — to Ukraine.

But it was unclear how much he would directly address Zelenskyy’s emotional and direct appeal to lawmakers on Wednesday and the measures he asked the U.S. to back, including a no-fly zone the administration has repeatedly rejected.

Biden will announce an additional $800 million in military assistance as part of the $13.6 billion aid package for Ukraine contained in the government spending bill Biden signed into law Tuesday, a source familiar told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega, and includes weapons the Ukrainians have been requesting, such as anti-armor and anti-air systems.

But White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated Tuesday that the administration doesn’t support Zelenskyy’s no-fly zone request because the U.S. has to consider its own national security, and as Biden has repeatedly put it, does not want to enter “World War III.”

“We have the responsibility to do here is to assess what the impact is on the United States and our own national security,” she said.

While the U.S. has imposed a slate of economic and trade sanctions to isolate Putin, the Biden administration has also flatly rejected U.S. troops fighting Russian forces in Ukraine and any help delivering MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland wants to get to the Ukrainians.

Psaki also said Biden would watch Zelenskyy’s speech “to the degree” that his schedule allowed.

Earlier Wednesday, to a packed auditorium of lawmakers and standing ovations, Zelenskyy seized the spotlight to push Biden to contribute more lethal aid, lawmakers to sanction more companies with ties to Russia, and said if the U.S. cannot agree to support a no-fly zone, then to give Ukraine S-300 systems and other similar weapons to defend their skies.

While the White House event allows Biden to detail what the U.S. is doing in place of a no-fly zone, he will be forced to respond to Zelenskyy’s emotional appeal, in which he told Americans to remember Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks when witnessing the terror in Ukraine and closed by calling out Biden by name, in English, to do more.

“It’s not enough to be the leader of the nation. Today it takes to be the leader of the world,” Zelensky said. “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. Peace in your country doesn’t depend anymore only on you and your people. It depends on those next to you and those who are strong.”

In remarks on the Senate floor following Zelenskyy’s address, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the Biden administration for what he’s characterized as a sluggish response to the crisis in Ukraine and outlined three steps the administration should take to pick up the pace.

McConnell called on Biden to expand the scope of U.S. lethal aid to Ukraine to include more effective long-range air defense capabilities, to deploy more U.S. forces to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank and use new authorities to harden the defenses of frontline allies, and finally, for Biden to go “beyond Brussels” on his trip next week and to visit Eastern flank, NATO allies like Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

“As the threat to Ukraine gathered whenever an opportunity to act has presented itself, the Biden administration has hesitated until the political pressure became overwhelming, or balked outright,” McConnell said.

Although he made no direct mention of a no-fly zone, McConnell hit hard on the need to help Ukraine shore up its air defense, arguing the administration should quickly get Ukraine air defense systems “that we should have helped Ukraine get weeks ago.”
MORE: Biden to head to Brussels next week for show of unity with NATO leaders

Biden will travel to Brussels next Thursday to meet with NATO leaders in his first European visit since Russian President Vladimir Putin started invading Ukraine, the White House announced Tuesday, to meet “face-to-face” with his European counterparts to assess Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

ABC News’ Allison Pecorin and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Speaking just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on him to be a “leader for peace,” President Joe Biden on Wednesday thanked Zelenskyy for his “passionate message” and detailed how much military aid the U.S. is already providing — or will provide — to Ukraine.

Biden called Zelenskyy’s speech “convincing and significant” and said he listened to him from the White House private residence.

“He speaks for people who have shown remarkable courage and strength in the face of brutal aggression — courage and strength that’s inspired not only Ukrainians but the entire world,” Biden said. “Putin is inflicting appalling, appalling devastation and harm on Ukraine — bombing apartment buildings, maternity wards, hospitals. I mean, it’s — it’s God awful.”

He did not directly address Zelenskyy’s emotional and direct appeal to lawmakers on Wednesday for the U.S. to back a no-fly zone the administration has repeatedly rejected — but announced an additional $800 million in military assistance as part of the $13.6 billion aid package for Ukraine contained in the government spending bill Biden signed into law Tuesday, which includes weapons the Ukrainians have been requesting, such as anti-armor and anti-air systems.

Ahead of signing an action to approve the $800 million in additional security support, Biden said the U.S. is “fully committed” to getting more weapons to Ukraine.

“What’s at stake here are the principles that the United States and the United Nations and across the world stand for. It’s about freedom. It’s about the right of people to determine their own future. It’s about making sure Ukraine never, will never be a victory for Putin no matter what advances he makes on the battlefield,” he said.

“The American people are answering President Zelenskyy’s call for more help, more weapons for Ukraine to defend itself, more tools to fight Russian aggression. And that’s what we’re doing,” Biden said.

While not addressing Zelenskyy’s request for a humanitarian no-fly zone, Biden said the new package will supply Ukraine with 9,000 anti-armor systems, 7,000 small arms, 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 20 million rounds of ammunition, and 100 drones, “so they can continue to defend their space.”

“At the request of President Zelenskyy, we have identified and are helping Ukraine acquire additional longer-range anti-aircraft systems and ammunitions for those systems,” he said. “And this will include drones which demonstrates our commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems to Ukraine for its defense.”

“Now, I want to be honest with you. This could be a long and difficult battle, but the American people will be steadfast in our support of the people of Ukraine in the face of Putin’s immoral, unethical attacks on civilian populations,” he added. “We are united in our abhorrence of Putin’s depraved onslaught, and we are going to continue to have their backs as they fight for freedom, their democracy, their very survival — and we are going to give Ukraine the arms to fight and defend themselves through all the difficult days ahead.”

Over the past week, the U.S. has contributed $1 billion in new assistance to Ukraine.

But White House press secretary Jen Psaki also reiterated Tuesday that the administration doesn’t support Zelenskyy’s no-fly zone request because the U.S. has to consider its own national security, and as Biden has repeatedly put it, does not want to enter “World War III.”

“We have the responsibility to do here is to assess what the impact is on the United States and our own national security,” she said.

While the U.S. has imposed a slate of economic and trade sanctions to isolate Putin, the Biden administration has also flatly rejected U.S. troops fighting Russian forces in Ukraine and any help delivering MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland wants to get to the Ukrainians.

Earlier Wednesday, to a packed auditorium of lawmakers and standing ovations, Zelenskyy seized the spotlight to push Biden to contribute more lethal aid, lawmakers to sanction more companies with ties to Russia, and said if the U.S. cannot agree to support a no-fly zone, then to give Ukraine S-300 systems and other similar weapons to defend its skies.

While the White House event allowed Biden to detail what the U.S. is doing in place of a no-fly zone, he was forced to respond to Zelenskyy’s emotional appeal, in which he told Americans to remember Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks when witnessing the terror in Ukraine and closed by calling out Biden by name, in English, to do more.

“It’s not enough to be the leader of the nation. Today it takes to be the leader of the world,” Zelensky said. “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. Peace in your country doesn’t depend anymore only on you and your people. It depends on those next to you and those who are strong.”

In remarks on the Senate floor following Zelenskyy’s address, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the Biden administration for what he’s characterized as a sluggish response to the crisis in Ukraine and outlined three steps the administration should take to pick up the pace.

McConnell called on Biden to expand the scope of U.S. lethal aid to Ukraine to include more effective long-range air defense capabilities, to deploy more U.S. forces to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank and use new authorities to harden the defenses of frontline allies, and finally, for Biden to go “beyond Brussels” on his trip next week and to visit Eastern flank, NATO allies like Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

“As the threat to Ukraine gathered whenever an opportunity to act has presented itself, the Biden administration has hesitated until the political pressure became overwhelming, or balked outright,” McConnell said.

Although he made no direct mention of a no-fly zone, McConnell hit hard on the need to help Ukraine shore up its air defense, arguing the administration should quickly get Ukraine air defense systems “that we should have helped Ukraine get weeks ago.”

Biden will travel to Brussels next Thursday to meet with NATO leaders in his first European visit since Russian President Vladimir Putin started invading Ukraine, the White House announced Tuesday, to meet “face-to-face” with his European counterparts to assess Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

ABC News’ Allison Pecorin, Molly Nagle, Conor Finnegan, Luis Martinez and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.

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