Andy Field ABC News - March 16, 2022 - KRDO’s Afternoon News

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with his Russian counterpart, Nikolay Patrushev, today  "to reiterate the United States' firm and clear opposition to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine," according to a statement from the National Security Council.  Sullivan told Patrushev that Russia should stop attacking Ukraine if it's serious about diplomacy and warned "about the consequences and implications of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine."   The statement said Sullivan "clearly laid out" that the U.S. will continue "imposing costs on Russia" as well as support Ukraine and defend NATO's eastern flank.  This conversation marked the first high-level engagement between the U.S. and Russia since the Kremlin launched its war against Ukraine.  And President Biden spoke this afternoon after this morning's virtual address to Congress by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he pleaded for more help from the United States.   Biden announced that an additional $800 million in military aid will be sent to Ukraine.