EU's Kallas says US embassy left Kyiv after Russian threats, Ukraine denies it
Photo: EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas (Getty Images)
Following Russia's ultimatum over strikes on Kyiv, the US embassy left the Ukrainian capital, the EU's top diplomat claimed. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry commented on the information.
What Kallas said
At a briefing ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Cyprus, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas responded to questions about Russia's threats to strike Kyiv and its demand that diplomats leave the city.
"This is what Russia does because it's not really gaining ground on the battlefield. So what they are doing now is really increasing the terrorist attacks because you can't really describe it in other ways. Creating fear inside the society. It hasn't worked for years, but I don't think that it's going to work now," Kallas said.
Regarding embassies, the EU's top diplomat noted that almost all remained in Kyiv and called it an act of courage.
"Also, what we heard from Ukraine yesterday was that all the embassies stayed except one. So that also takes courage from those embassies. But yes, all the Europeans stay. America left," she said on the morning of May 28.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry denies the evacuation of the US embassy
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi reacted to Kallas' remarks.
"The information about the departure of the US embassy is not true," he told journalists.
Zelenskyy’s office also commented on Kallas’s remarks.
Dmytro Lytvyn, communications adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called the situation “strange,” noting that Ukraine should not be interpreting the EU’s top diplomat’s comments about the United States.
“Perhaps she was referring to the circumstances leading up to the strike on Saturday night. We heard that American diplomats left Kyiv at that time. In any case, Ukraine is grateful to all the embassies operating in Kyiv," Lytvyn noted.
The US Embassy in Ukraine stated that the information previously circulated is false.
“The US Embassy is open. There are no changes to our operations and reports otherwise are false. The State Department has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans and regularly reviews the security posture of Embassy Kyiv,” the agency said in a statement.
As RBC-Ukraine previously reported, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha thanked EU ministers for not giving in to Moscow's threats. According to him, intimidation is no longer producing the same results as before.
Meanwhile, Poland summoned the Russian ambassador over Moscow's threats to systematically strike Kyiv. Warsaw stated that if Russia is conducting a "special operation," then its targets must be exclusively military.
RBC-Ukraine explained how often Russia is capable of repeating massive attacks. Due to limited weapons stockpiles, strikes of this scale are possible no more often than once every two to three weeks.
