Britain, Australia and Germany announced their intention to evacuate the staff of diplomatic missions in Ukraine due to the growing military tension on the border with Russia. This is reported Reuters.
The decision came amid a US call to start evacuating the families of American diplomats. The State Department began developing measures in case the security situation of citizens worsened due to the alleged invasion and advised Americans not to travel to Russia and Ukraine.
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Then the example of Washington decided to follow in Berlin, London, and Canberra. The ministries of foreign affairs of Western countries issued warnings to citizens, advising them to immediately leave the territory of the Ukrainian state by the next flights. The Austrian Foreign Ministry has postponed the implementation of the evacuation plan, as it was decided to continue monitoring the situation in Kiev and Donbass.
Following their Western colleagues, the Japanese Foreign Ministry also expressed its concern. The Japanese government began to study the need to evacuate the country’s citizens, noting the rapid change in the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border. The authorities also advised their citizens to leave Ukraine.
In Russia called the decision to evacuate strange
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the US decision to evacuate its embassy staff in Ukraine was strange and unwise. According to her, the State Department was preparing for this step in advance.
While everyone was preparing for the talks in Geneva, the American side was preparing the so-called Ukrainian files about the alleged disinformation on the part of the Russian side.
Maria Zakharovaofficial representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
State Duma deputy Dmitry Novikov, in a conversation with Lenta.ru, expressed confidence that the evacuation of American diplomats from Ukraine is the result of a conspiracy between NATO and Kiev in order to support the aggressive plans of the Ukrainian authorities regarding Donetsk and Luhansk.
It is necessary that the citizens of a particular country see concrete evidence that they are about to be invaded by the enemy. And in this case, with the help of evacuation, the State Department confirms the availability of information that Russia intends to send troops to the territory of Ukraine
Dmitry NovikovState Duma deputy
In Kiev, the US actions were called premature. According to the press secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleg Nikolenko, such a step by the American side is “a manifestation of excessive caution.” He noted that there have been no cardinal changes in terms of security in Ukraine recently.
NATO to send additional forces to Eastern Europe
Amid reports of evacuations, NATO decided to strengthen its military presence in Eastern Europe and send additional troops and ships from the air force and navy of the alliance forces to Bulgaria and the Baltic.
Thus, Denmark sent a frigate to the Baltic Sea and four F-16 fighters to Lithuania. Spain is considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria.
Germany also decided to increase its presence in Eastern Europe within the framework of the alliance. Germany intends from February to take a more active part in NATO air patrols in the southern direction in Romania.
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US President Joe Biden also admitted that US authorities could deploy thousands of US military, air force and navy in the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe.
Senior U.S. Department of Defense officials presented Biden with several options. Among them was the deployment of from one to five thousand soldiers with ships and aircraft in the countries of Eastern Europe with the possibility of a “tenfold increase” in numbers if the situation worsens.
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