The Australian authorities announced the suspension of the work of the country’s embassy in Ukraine and ordered the departure of its employees. The reason given is the “deteriorating security situation” in the country, according to a press release from the Australian Foreign Office on Sunday, February 13.
“Amid the deteriorating security situation due to the buildup of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, the Australian government ordered the departure of the Australian Embassy in Kiev and suspended its work,” the agency noted.
The Australian Foreign Office has specified that the embassy’s operations will be moved to a temporary office in Lviv. In addition, the agency recommended that Australian citizens immediately leave Ukraine by commercial vehicles, as “security conditions may change as soon as possible.”
On the eve of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that Moscow decided to optimize the staff of Russian diplomatic missions in Ukraine. Thus, she commented on the information of a number of media outlets, according to which Russia has significantly reduced the staff of its embassy in Kiev and consulates general in Lvov, Odessa and Kharkov. The politician stressed that the need to make a decision on optimization was dictated by the growing threat of provocations from Ukraine and the West.
On February 11, Great Britain began to take out embassy employees from Kiev. It is noted that since January 2022, “the build-up of Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine has increased the threat of military action.” In this regard, it was decided to further evacuate the embassy staff from the Ukrainian capital.
Prior to this, the US State Department issued a new recommendation for Americans in Ukraine to immediately leave the territory of this country. Also, the US Embassy in Kiev recommended that its citizens leave Ukraine on January 30 and 26. As emphasized in the diplomatic mission, such a need is due to the “unpredictable situation” in the security sphere.
Also, the United States initiated the voluntary departure of part of the American diplomatic staff and members of the families of diplomats from the territory of Ukraine. At the same time, the State Department recommended that US citizens not travel to the Russian Federation due to “continued tensions” on the Russian-Ukrainian border.
In the United States and EU countries, they have recently expressed concern about the alleged increase in Russia’s “aggressive actions” against Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying that it does not threaten anyone. As the Russian side emphasized, such accusations are used as a pretext to deploy as much NATO military equipment as possible near the borders of the Russian Federation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out on January 24 that the actions of the United States and NATO are leading to an escalation of tension in Ukraine. He stressed that it “is carried out through informational and concrete actions taken by the United States and NATO.” In his opinion, there are a lot of rumors and unreliable data about the situation in Ukraine and the allegedly planned attack by Russia, which are “information hysteria”.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
