MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. On Thursday, the Kiev City Council will terminate the lease agreement for the land the Russian Embassy sits on, Mayor Vitaly Klichko said.

"I think the decision here will be unanimous. We will both terminate the lease and appeal to the government to repossess the diplomatic agency’s property <...> into the ownership of the Ukrainian state," the Kiev official web portal quoted him as saying.

The proposal to terminate the lease agreement for the embassy’s land was put forth before the city council by the pro-presidential People’s Servant party in early April. It also suggested that the Ukrainian government nationalize the diplomatic agency’s building.

On February 22, 2022, Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that all diplomatic agencies in Ukraine would be evacuated to ensure the safety of staff. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24, 2022, that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." Later that same day, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky severed diplomatic relations with Russia while the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced the evacuation of diplomats. Since then, the respective embassy buildings in both capitals have stood empty.