MOSCOW — NATO said Monday it would send additional ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe as Britain ordered some diplomats and their families to leave Ukraine, amid growing alarm that Russia may invade as it amasses tens of thousands of troops near the border.
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The moves came after the United States Sunday ordered families of diplomats to leave Kyiv and authorized non-essential diplomatic staff to leave. The State Department also cautioned American citizens to consider leaving Ukraine, with U.S. officials warning that an attack could happen “at any time.”
NATO said on Monday its members are “putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to NATO deployments in eastern Europe, reinforcing Allied deterrence and defence as Russia continues its military build-up in and around Ukraine.”
State Department orders diplomats' families to leave U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, citing ‘threat of Russian military action’
Russia has continued to rapidly scale up its military presence near Ukraine and in Belarus to unprecedented levels in recent days, according to military analysts. As Russia massed forces near Ukraine, it issued a series of sweeping demands on the United States and NATO last month, including that Ukraine be barred from joining the alliance, a condition NATO officials ruled out. Diplomatic talks have failed to resolve the crisis.
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Russian officials have repeatedly denied any plan to invade Ukraine, and claim Russia has a right to move troops and hold military exercises in Russia. Russian and Belarusian officials have announced joint military exercises in Belarus next month, raising Western fears of a possible ground attack on northern Ukraine from Belarus.
“I welcome Allies contributing additional forces to NATO," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. “NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all Allies, including by reinforcing the eastern part of the Alliance.”
Despite the escalation, the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Monday that European Union countries would not scale back staffing at embassies or send diplomatic families home.
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“We are not going to do the same thing because we don’t know any specific reasons,” Borrell told journalists before a meeting of EU foreign ministers that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to join online, Reuters reported. “Negotiations are going on,” Borrell added.
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Ukraine foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said Monday the U.S. move to send home some diplomats was premature and overly cautious, given that there had been no material change to Ukraine’s security situation.
“While we respect the right of foreign states to ensure the security of their diplomatic missions, we consider such step by the American side to be premature and sign of excess caution," he said in a statement. “In fact, there have been no cardinal changes in the security situation recently,” he added, noting that the concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine’s borders began last April.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has kept U.S. and NATO officials on edge, claiming Russia is the victim of Western aggression and threatening a “military-technical” response.
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A whirlwind of diplomatic efforts between United States and NATO officials and Russian officials in recent weeks has not resolved the impasse.
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Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Monday described the U.S. decision to authorize non-essential staff to leave as “strange.”
“Their information policy agenda is strange and unwise,” Zakharova told independent Echo of Moscow radio. "They’ve been shooting off their reports one after another, but all of them have missed.” She said Russia’s embassy in Kyiv was operating normally, refuting Western media reports that staffing had been reduced.
Earlier, Zakharova accused Washington, not Moscow, of preparing possible “military provocations” in Ukraine in a Telegram post.
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She speculated Washington and its allies were aiming to “prepare” Western public opinion for military action.
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Explaining the decision to order diplomatic families to leave, the State Department said that Russia was “conducting disinformation operations and fomenting unrest” in Ukraine. It said it was unclear whether Putin had decidedto invade, “but he is building the military capacity along Ukraine’s borders to have that option ready at any time.”
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In recent days, the United States and Britain have aired allegations of two separate Russian plans to destabilize the Ukraine government and install a pro-Moscow government. Russian officials have denied the allegations.
Britain’s Foreign Office Sunday accused Russian intelligence of plotting install a pro-Moscow government in Kyiv naming a former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhen Murayev as a possible puppet leader. Murayev denied the report. Russia’s embassy in London called on Britain to “stop foolish rhetorical provocations.”
Stern reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.
A divided Europe confronts Russia with conflicting goals on Ukraine
State Department orders diplomats' families to leave U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, citing ‘threat of Russian military action’