NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who is accompanying Sec. of State John Kerry on his mission to Ukraine to attempt to rein in the increasingly unwieldy situation, reported early Tuesday morning that they had arrived in Kiev and are sticking to the plan announced before Putin's recent actions to give out $1 billion in loan guarantees and “technical help” for the nation’s central bank.

In an interview with Mitchell on Feb. 26th, Kerry explained some of the details of the administration's plan to handle the situation, including the $1 billion offer, but this was before the situation had escalated further.

Meanwhile, just before Kerry and Mitchell arrived Tuesday morning, Putin denied to reporters that Russian troops had taken parts of Ukraine and announced that if he did decide to “use armed forces, it will be in line with international law.”