New York Times: “The most critical of the meetings, though, will be at NATO. For all the signs of unity, there is nervousness about Mr. Putin’s next move, and what happens if he makes use of chemical or biological weapons. And so far, officials say, while those possibilities have been debated, there is no unity on how the West would respond — a question Mr. Biden and his aides will have to take up, behind closed doors.”

“The Biden administration is preparing sanctions on most members of Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, as part of an effort to punish Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“President Biden intends to announce the sanctions on more than 300 members of the Russian State Duma as soon as Thursday during his trip to Europe, where he will meet with allies from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to formulate their next steps.”

“The sanctions will be announced in coordination with the European Union and members of the Group of Seven industrialized nations.”

Politico: “Presidents rarely travel overseas empty-handed but, to this point, the administration has been cagey as to what more deliverables Biden can or will provide. Officials said additional sanctions against Russia were expected along with a joint effort to crack down on Russia’s ability to evade those economic measures. There also is a promise of more funding and military equipment for Kyiv. But there are limits as to what Biden can do and how far he’s willing to go.”

Playbook: “Most summits are organized over the course of months. Thursday’s meetings took shape in just days. Some allies balked at the idea of a gathering in Brussels, worried that there wouldn’t be much new to say. In the end, Biden personally prevailed over the doubters.”

ABC News: Biden heads to high stakes NATO summit.

“A bipartisan group of senators is working with the Treasury Department to try to lock down Russia’s roughly $132 billion in gold reserves after its invasion of Ukraine,” Axios reports.

“The collaborative approach is a departure from congressional efforts to shame and blame the Biden administration to shape moves on Russian oil imports, or the SWIFT banking system. If successful, it could drive more work across the aisle and along both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, as the president balances diplomatic pressures abroad with political pressures at home.”

“The U.S. and U.K. struck a trade accord Tuesday that will remove U.S. tariffs on British steel and aluminum, while the U.K. will lift levies on American whiskey, motorcycles and tobacco,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“President Biden intends to announce a new Russia sanctions package during his visit to Europe this week, including measures to crack down on sanctions evasion,” Axios reports.

“The leading theory for why Russia launched hypersonic missiles into Ukraine last week is that it’s running out of precision-guided weapons to strike faraway targets,” Politico reports.

“Russia said it shot Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at a weapons depot in western Ukraine on Friday, though it remains unclear if that was actually the target. Still, President Joe Biden confirmed Russia’s use of the weapons Monday, stating the Russian military launched them ‘because it’s the only thing that they can get through with absolute certainty.’”

“Russian companies owned by sanctioned oligarchs say they are having trouble making payments to their foreign creditors, potentially setting them up for default even though they have the funds to pay,” the Wall Street Journal reports.