Psaki: Russia was preparing to evacuate families of diplomats from Ukraine

“We have information that indicates that the Russian the authorities were preparing to evacuate family members from the Russian embassy in Ukraine in late December and early January, ” said at a briefing on January 18 White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, quoted by TASS.

There is no assessment in Washington as to why this was done, as well as the significance of such measures. “Of course, we would advise you to contact the Russian side about additional details of what decision they made,” Psaki answered the journalist’s clarifying question.

“Now we are in a position where Russia can launch an attack in Ukraine at any moment” , Psaki said, adding that this crisis was “created by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin , who gathered 100 thousand Russian troops along the borders of Ukraine.

The newspaper The New York Times. Commenting on this publication, the Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that the diplomatic mission is operating normally.

Later, the Russian Embassy confirmed that the employees of all diplomatic missions in Ukraine continue to work as usual.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine also did not receive any information from the Russian side or from the embassies of other states information about the evacuation of diplomats from the country, the ministry said in a statement.

“And we must believe the Russian Foreign Ministry that the embassy is operating as normal. And the regular regime is a besieged fortress, everything is covered with barbed wire, the windows are closed tightly, it is located on Povitroflotsky Prospekt.

This news, of course, scared us Ukrainians the most.

And they called me already and asked what it could mean – the evacuation of the families of Russian diplomats. But I will say this. First, everything is done within the framework of the rules of reciprocity. So, our Ukrainian diplomats in Moscow are without families. We have it all spelled out, and I don’t think, to be honest, that this story should be taken in the context of preparing a Russian missile and bomb strike on Ukrainian cities. It is important to note here that, firstly, the diplomats themselves seem to remain. Therefore, I would not dramatize that situation, ”said the chief correspondent of the Ukrainian agency “UNIAN” Roman Tsymbalyuk on the air of the radio station “Echo of Moscow” .

Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov previously stated that the Russian Federation does not create reasons for the escalation of the conflict around Ukraine. The United States will send additional military assistance to Ukraine in the coming weeks, the representative Department of State.

According to the agency Bloomberg, Vladimir Putin is “intentioned to go to war with Ukraine”, and the head of the Russian state allegedly hinted back in July last year in his article “On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians.”

The story of a possible “Russian invasion” of Ukraine has been actively discussed in the West since mid-autumn last year. The US has consistently pointed to Russia’s alleged military buildup near Ukraine’s borders, threatening Moscow with new sanctions if it escalates. At the same time, the Kremlin has more than once directly denied any plans to attack Ukraine, on the contrary, pointing to the possible preparation of a military operation in the Donbass by Kiev.

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