WASHINGTON, February 13. /TASS/. A core team of the US embassy staff will remain in Ukraine despite the evacuation of the majority of its personnel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference in Honolulu on Saturday.
"Yesterday, we ordered the departure of most of the Americans still at the US embassy in Kiev. The risk of Russian military action is high enough and the threat is imminent enough that this is the prudent thing to do," he said, noting that "a core team will remain in Ukraine with our dedicated Ukrainian colleagues as we continue to work relentlessly to resolve this crisis through deterrence and diplomacy."
Earlier, the US Department of State ordered most embassy staff to leave Ukraine immediately due to the threat of an invasion by Russia, saying it appeared increasingly likely that the situation headed towards "some kind of active conflict." As a high-ranking representative of the US administration explained on Saturday, the evacuation of the majority of employees does not mean the embassy is closing. The official stressed that the US Embassy in Kiev was suspending most of its consular services while some emergency consular services would be provided in Lvov.
Lately, Ukraine and the West have been increasingly echoing claims of an alleged possible Russian "invasion" of Ukraine ever more frequently. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov branded such information as an "empty and groundless" escalation of tensions, emphasizing that Russia does not pose a threat to anyone. That said, he didn’t exclude the possibility of provocations being whipped up in order to justify such claims and warned that attempts to resolve the problem in southeastern Ukraine through the use of force would have the most serious consequences.