Feb 15, 2022: According to a report by AFP, the U.S said Monday it was moving its embassy in Kyiv to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, citing “dramatic acceleration” in the formation of Russian forces on the country’s border.
“We are in the process of temporarily relocating our Embassy operations in Ukraine from our Embassy in Kyiv to Lviv due to the dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces,” Blinken said in a statement.
“The embassy will remain engaged with the Ukrainian government, coordinating diplomatic engagement in Ukraine,” he said. “We are also continuing our intensive diplomatic efforts to deescalate the crisis,” he said.
Blinken “strongly urges” that all American citizens remaining in Ukraine be deported immediately. The staff at the US embassy in Kiev had already been significantly reduced when the United States ordered most diplomats to leave the country and suspended consular services.
A small consular presence had already been set up in Lviv, about 70 kilometers from the Polish border. At the US embassy in Kyiv, outside the gate, a Ukrainian security official told AFP that all Americans had left. Lights could be seen on the ground floor, but the embassy flag was not flying in suburban Kyiv.
The U.S has warned that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is imminent, with the West accusing Russia of deploying more than 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine.
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