The United States and the European Union said their diplomatic missions would continue working in Kyiv after Russian warnings about security risks amid attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
Russia has warned foreign diplomatic missions in Kyiv about security risks amid attacks on the Ukrainian capital. The United States and the European Union said they do not currently plan to withdraw staff and are assessing the safety of their missions themselves.
On Saturday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said some foreign representatives had ignored its warnings and were knowingly exposing themselves to “mortal danger.” On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had used every available means to warn the missions. He repeated Russia's position that its strikes were a response to Ukraine expanding its list of targets and attacking Russian economic facilities.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would decide for itself whether its staff could safely remain in Kyiv. He said the United States reviews threats to its diplomatic missions around the world every day and had not changed the status of its embassy in the Ukrainian capital at the time of his remarks.
EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said the EU mission and member-state embassies would stay in Kyiv. She said 25 EU countries have embassies there. Mathernova called Russia's warnings an attempt to make Ukraine's partners reduce their support and recalled that diplomatic work is governed by the Vienna Conventions. The embassies of Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, France, Estonia and Poland also said they would remain.
HotNews cites the Kyiv Post's analysis that diplomatic missions play both a practical and symbolic role. Diplomats meet Ukrainian officials, coordinate military and economic aid, host visiting delegations and maintain direct contact with allied governments. A mass departure, the analysis argues, would be a symbolic victory for Moscow.
In the first weeks of the full-scale invasion in 2022, the United States and several other countries temporarily withdrew staff from Kyiv. The US embassy reopened on May 18, 2022, after Ukrainian forces pushed Russian troops away from the capital. Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken linked the return to the city's successful defense.
The warnings came amid reported strikes on Kyiv's transport infrastructure, residential areas and other sites, HotNews said. Moscow has also said it plans to continue attacks. Ukrainian authorities and Western diplomats reject Russia's explanation for the strikes and continue their work in the capital.