WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - United States President Joe Biden on Tuesday (March 1) said his country will join its allies and ban Russian flights from using US airspace, following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last week.

In his State of the Union address, he branded his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “dictator”.

“A Russian dictator, invading a foreign country, has costs around the world,” Mr Biden told Congress.

But “in the battle between democracy and autocracy, democracies are rising to the moment, and the world is clearly choosing the side of peace and security,” he said.

Mr Biden vowed that Mr Putin would pay over the long run even if he made gains on the battlefield in Ukraine.

“While he may make gains on the battlefield – he will pay a continuing high price over the long run,” Mr Biden said.

The world has “isolated” Mr Putin for sending Russian forces into Ukraine, Mr Biden said, vowing that devastating sanctions would sap Russia’s economic strength and weaken its military.

“Putin is now isolated from the world more than he has ever been,” Mr Biden told members of Congress during his address, adding that the Russian President “has no idea what’s coming” in terms of economic penalties and punishment.

Mr Biden also took aim at Russian oligarchs and “corrupt leaders” who he said have bilked billions of dollars off Mr Putin’s regime.

“We’re coming for your ill-begotten gains,” he warned them.

The US leader also led Congress in a standing ovation for the embattled Ukrainian people.

“Let each of us, if you’re able to stand, stand and send an unmistakable signal to Ukraine and to the world,” Mr Biden said.

The lawmakers stood, applauded and roared, many of them waving Ukrainian flags.

Follow The Straits Times' live coverage on the Ukraine crisis here.