EU diplomats will not leave Ukraine; will discuss with US, says Josep Borrell

Amid speculation of European Union diplomats leaving Ukraine amid fear of invasion, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday has cleared that EU diplomats will not leave Kyiv. According to a report by news agency Sputnik, Borrell will discuss from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken why the US has decided to evacuate some of its diplomats from Ukraine. 

"We are not going to do the same thing because, we don’t know any specific reasons, but Secretary Blinken will inform us and we don’t have to dramatise, as far as negotiations are going I don’t think we will leave Ukraine", Sputnik quoted Borrell as saying ahead of the EU foreign affairs council.

Notably, the statement from the foreign policy chief came a day after the State Department ordered the families of all American personnel at the US Embassy in Ukraine to leave the country amid heightened fears of a Russian invasion. According to the news agency AP, the department told the dependents of staffers at the US Embassy in Kyiv that they must leave the country. It also said that non-essential embassy staff could leave Ukraine at government expense. 

"The security conditions, particularly along Ukraine’s borders, in Russia-occupied Crimea, and in Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine, are unpredictable and can deteriorate with little notice. Demonstrations, which have turned violent at times, regularly occur throughout Ukraine, including in Kyiv," the State Department said on Sunday.

"Do not travel to Ukraine due to the increased threats of Russian military action and COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in Ukraine due to crime and civil unrest. Some areas have increased risk," the department advised.

The same was also followed by the diplomats of the United Kingdom. While speaking to BBC, an embassy official said that the UK diplomats are leaving the country as a precautionary measure and added, "Nothing specific is thought to have occurred in the past 24 hours in Kyiv". It is worth mentioning a report released by the US intelligence claimed over one lakh Russian troops are pressed near the Ukraine border by Putin and the forces have reportedly made all preparations to "invade Ukraine". Russian President Vladimir Putin has, however, denied the claims on multiple occasions.

With inputs from AP

Image: AP/ANI