The United States has ordered the families of its diplomats in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to leave the country “due to the continued threat” of a Russian invasion, the State Department said Sunday.
Washington has also authorised the “voluntary” departure of its non-essential embassy staff and urged US citizens in the Eastern European country to “consider departing now”, saying it will not be in a position to evacuate them after any possible incursion by Moscow.
Russia has been massing tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, along with an arsenal of tanks, fighting vehicles, artillery and missiles.
The movements have ignited stern warnings from Washington and Europe – but so far intense diplomacy has yielded little results.
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The US embassy remains open and Charge d’Affaires Kristina Kvien is staying in the country for now, a senior State Department official told reporters.
The official repeated earlier warnings from the White House that an invasion could come at “any time”.
Washington “will not be in a position to evacuate US citizens in such a contingency”, the official said, urging Americans to consider leaving via commercial or private transport as soon as possible.
However, Ukraine’s foreign ministry decried the move as “premature” and insisted there had been no “no radical changes” recently in security conditions.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc had no plans to pull people out yet, adding there was no need to “dramatise” the situation while talks with Russia continued.
(France 24)
