Ukraine Slams US Embassy Drawdown, Says Security Situation Hasn’t Changed

The EU is not withdrawing diplomats' families from Ukraine, says no reason to 'dramatize' the situation

While the Biden administration and US media outlets are constantly warning of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainians don’t seem as concerned. In a statement Monday, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry denounced the US decision to evacuate some diplomats and their families from the embassy in Kyiv was “premature and a manifestation of excessive caution.”

The State Department announced the move on Sunday and also issued a new travel advisory due to the increased threats of Russian military action. But Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the security situation hasn’t changed.

“In fact, there have been no radical changes in the security situation recently: the threat of new waves of Russian aggression has remained constant since 2014, and the accumulation of Russian troops near the state border began in April last year,” the ministry said.

A source close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Buzzfeed News that Zelensky “does not think there’s any remotely imminent threat to Kyiv” at this time. The source said the Americans are “safer in Kyiv than they are in Los Angeles … or any other crime-ridden city in the US.”

In public comments last week, Zelensky said there was already a risk for war and the only thing that has changed recently is the amount of attention on the situation. “These risks existed … they haven’t become bigger. The excitement around them has grown,” he said.

Some of Washington’s European allies are also not playing along with the US’s scaremongering. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the EU wouldn’t withdraw the families of its diplomats from Ukraine because there’s no need to “dramatize” the situation. “We are not going to do the same thing because we don’t know any specific reasons,” he said.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.