Australia, Canada evacuate embassy staff to Ukraine

Australian and Canadian governments have pursued the United States in suspending operations at their embassies in Kiev amid fears that a Russian invasion of Ukraine may be imminent.

In view of the deterioration of the security situation caused by the gathering of Russian troops in Ukraine, the government has directed the staff to the Australian Embassy in Kiev and has temporarily suspended operations at our Embassy in Kiev,” Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement Sunday.

Payne said Embassy operations would be temporarily displaced in the Ukrainian town of Lviv, more west than the capital.

Canada made a similar announcement Saturday that the country's Embassy operations would move from Kiev to Lviv.

On Saturday, the US announced it was withdrawing most of its embassy staff from the Ukrainian capital.

consular services at the embassy will be suspended from Sunday, the State Department said, while several staff members will be transferred to Lviv, which is located about 70km from the Polish border.

Kiev is also preparing for unrest, as capital mayor Vitalo Klitschko told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that residents “are preparing for the worst. ”

He said the international community should keep in mind that Russian President Vladimir Putin's geopolitical ambitions lie in the Baltic states and that Ukraine is “only the beginning. ”

His comments came ahead of the planned visits by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Kiev and Moscow early next week, the latest in a series of efforts by world leaders to declimate the conflict.

A number of countries have advised their citizens in Ukraine to leave the country after Washington said Friday that an invasion could occur in the coming days.

The US government said it considers a Russian invasion possible before the closure of the Winter Olympic Games in China on February 20th.

The US and its NATO allies charge that Russia is preparing a new attack on Ukraine after annexing the Crime in 2014 -- an allegation Russia denies, despite having deployed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian borders.

Amid increasing tensions, the Kremlin has demanded that NATO limit activities in Eastern Europe and promise that it will not add any former Soviet republic as Ukraine as new members.

In response to the crisis, NATO countries have deployed troops and equipment to other members, states that share a border with Ukraine. / REL/