KYIV, Ukraine — The United States on Saturday ordered the evacuation of most of its embassy staff in Kyiv amid fears a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent.
“The Department of State ordered the departure of most U.S. direct hire employees from Embassy Kyiv due to the continued threat of Russian military action,” the Department of State said in a travel advisory.
As of Sunday, the Department of State will suspend consular services at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, it said.
“The embassy will maintain a small consular presence in Lviv, Ukraine to handle emergencies, but will not be able to provide passport, visa or routine consular services,” the advisory added.
Lviv is in western Ukraine and further away from probable Russian invasion routes.
Russia also indicated it was evacuating staff from its embassy in Kyiv on Saturday. A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday said the country would “optimize” its staff numbers amid fears of “provocation.”
The Biden administration believes there is a “distinct possibility” Russia could invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 20, although officials do not believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a final decision yet.
On Friday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan suggested that the threat of such an incursion is “now immediate enough” to warn Americans still in Ukraine to leave in the next 24 to 48 hours.
“We continue to see signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border. As we’ve said before, we are in the window when an invasion could begin at any time should Vladimir Putin decide to order it,” Sullivan told reporters at a White House briefing.
President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will speak on Saturday as Western nations warned a war in Ukraine could ignite at any moment. The last time the two leaders spoke was Dec. 30.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Fiji that if Russian President Vladimir Putin was genuinely interested in resolving the escalating standoff through diplomacy, Washington was prepared to play its part but would impose swift economic sanctions if Moscow invades.
“I continue to hope that he will not choose the path of renewed aggression and he’ll chose the path of diplomacy and dialogue,” he told a news conference after meeting Pacific Island leaders. “But if he doesn’t, we’re prepared.”
Biden recently warned Americans who remain in Ukraine to leave immediately, saying in an interview with NBC News on Thursday that sending troops into the country to rescue U.S. citizens would result in “world war.”
American allies were also urging their citizens to leave the country.
“They should leave immediately,” British Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey told the BBC. “There is now a concentration of missile systems, artillery and combat air that means that Russia is in a position to launch a strike into Ukraine at almost no notice.”
Sue Kroll reported from Kyiv, and Rhoda Kwan from Melbourne, Australia.
Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
