The House is expected to take up a punishing Russian sanctions package next week, though prospects of passage are uncertain despite the overwhelming support the bill received in the Senate. The House Rules Committee has scheduled a meeting on the bill Monday,

President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that any deployment of European troops to Ukraine would amount to "a war against Russia" and said Moscow did not "pose a threat". He said European leaders "are frightening their populations with an imaginary threat coming from Russia".