Taipei has urged Taiwanese to leave Ukraine and the US is to evacuate its embassy in Kiev as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent.
US officials said the US Department of State planned to announce that virtually all US staff at the Kiev embassy would be required to leave ahead of a feared Russian invasion.
The announcement was expected to happen after press time last night.
Photo: EPA-EFE
A small number of officials might remain in Kiev, but the vast majority of the almost 200 Americans at the embassy would be sent out or relocated to Ukraine’s far west, near the Polish border, so that the US can retain a diplomatic presence in the country.
The state department would not comment.
The department had earlier ordered families of US embassy staffers in Kiev to leave, but it had left it to the discretion of nonessential personnel if they wanted to depart.
The new move comes as Washington has ratcheted up its warnings about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Pentagon on Friday said that it is sending another 3,000 troops to Poland to join 1,700 who are already assembling there in a demonstration of US commitment to NATO allies worried at the prospect of Russia invading Ukraine.
The additional soldiers are to depart their post at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, over the next couple of days and should be in Poland by early next week, said a defense official, who provided the information under ground rules set by the Pentagon.
They are the remaining elements of an infantry brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division.
Their mission is to train and provide deterrence, but not to engage in combat in Ukraine.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday advised Taiwanese to leave Ukraine as soon as possible.
The ministry in a news release urged about 25 Taiwanese registered as living in Ukraine to leave the country as soon as possible and called on others to avoid traveling to the country.
Ukraine-based Taiwanese who need assistance can contact the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission, which officially handles Taiwan’s affairs in Ukraine, it said.
They can also get in touch with the Taiwan Trade Center in Kiev, which is run by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said that Taiwan is opposed to any unilateral actions to use force to alter the “status quo” in the region, and called on the countries involved to resolve their disputes through dialogue and peaceful means.
He also stressed that the situation in the Taiwan Strait is fundamentally distinct from the crisis in Ukraine, and that misinformation designed to affect Taiwan’s morale had been identified.
As agencies take steps to counter the misinformation, the public is urged to trust information from the government, he said.
Additional reporting by Su Yung-yao and CNA
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