Most of the U.S. Embassy staff in Kyiv, Ukraine, have been ordered to evacuate the country as fears of a Russian invasion reach new heights.
The State Department issued the evacuation order for “most U.S. direct hire employees” late Friday night “due to the continued threat of Russia military action,” a statement read. The embassy will also suspend its consular services, though they will continue to maintain a small consular presence to handle emergencies in Lviv.
A senior State Department official told reporters that “it appears increasingly likely” that the situation becomes an “active conflict,” and that’s why “we are reducing our staff to a bare minimum while we still have the ability to get our official people out safely.”
Russia’s military buildup along the Ukrainian border has included more than 100,000 troops for weeks. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declined to get more specific about heightened invasion concerns, though Biden administration officials have repeatedly said they’re unsure if Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to send his troops across the border.
US TROOPS PREPARING TO HELP AMERICANS FLEEING UKRAINE SHOULD RUSSIA INVADE
The decision to pull most of the embassy staff out of Ukraine comes as a number of U.S. officials have strengthened their warnings.
A day earlier, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House that Americans in Ukraine should leave within “24 to 48 hours” because there’s no guarantee commercial travel would remain operable during a war, while the senior State Department official said it was “past time for” Americans to leave Ukraine.
He also painted a dark picture of what an invasion would look like, including “aerial bombings and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to their nationality,” which would lead to “a subsequent ground invasion” that would “involve the onslaught of a massive force.”
Sullivan’s warning came hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that an incursion “could begin at any time” and that it could occur while the Olympics are ongoing, which officials had believed would have held up a military push.
Both officials, in addition to President Joe Biden, have warned that the U.S. military, despite having deployed roughly 6,000 troops to Europe, will not be going into Ukraine to rescue Americans or fight Russians. In addition to the 6,000 troops that have deployed to Poland, Germany, and Romania, roughly 8,500 troops are on “heightened alert” for a deployment should NATO call up their forces.
While the military won’t be going into Ukraine, they will be prepared, should it be needed, to help people evacuate once they reach a neighboring country, most likely Poland.
“U.S. citizens in Ukraine should be aware that the U.S. government will not be able to evacuate U.S. citizens in the event of Russian military action anywhere in Ukraine,” the statement from the State Department read. “Military action may commence at any time and without warning and would also severely impact the U.S. Embassy’s ability to provide consular services, including assistance to U.S. citizens in departing Ukraine.”
“A couple thousand American citizens” have informed the State Department they’re in Ukraine, and “a substantial part of that group” has said they plan to remain there, the official added.
The statement also includes a link for Americans in Ukraine who plan on staying, so that the two parties can communicate more easily.
In the midst of the war posturing, Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke on Saturday, as the former “made clear that a diplomatic path to resolving the crisis remains open, but it would require Moscow to deescalate and engage in good-faith discussions,” according to State Department spokesman Ned Price.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The administration has warned for weeks that Russia could launch a “false flag operation” to create a reason to justify an invasion.
Putin has demanded that NATO stop expanding east, while the U.S. has threatened significant economic sanctions should Russia invade Ukraine. The diplomatic efforts have not led to a resolution yet.
