Tuesday open thread: The latest on the Ukraine crisis

Good morning / afternoon / evening to all our readers. Here's the latest on the Russian invasion of Ukraine:

• President Biden will speak on the situation in Ukraine at 1pm ET.
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has frozen the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sanctioned five Russian banks and three Russian oligarchs.
• Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have signed on to the US embargo of microchips to Russia.
• The Russian State Duma has "approved" Vladimir Putin's "request" to deploy the army abroad.

It's early days, but so far the balance is in the West's favor. Germany deciding to freeze the pipeline is big news. We'll see what Pres. Biden has to say; I'll update the post with his comments later in the day.

Stay frosty, everyone.