OSCE withdraws staff from Ukraine; Australia and Canada have suspended their embassies in Kiev

First change: 02/13/2022 – 15:36

Western nations insist that diplomacy remains open to resolving military tensions on the border between Russia and Ukraine, but increasing the expulsion of its citizens from Ukrainian territory.

U.S. personnel from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) began their withdrawal this Sunday, February 13, from the rebel city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine and were controlled by separatist rebels.

The United States and its allies have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, and in the face of suspicion that Russian airstrikes could continue with an invasion, the administration of Joe Biden warns that something could happen at any time.

OSCE withdrew its observers from the area and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg himself warned of the “real danger” of an “armed conflict” soon to erupt in Moscow.

It accuses the Russian government of not wanting to invade its neighbor and that Western nations are spreading lies. However, sending large numbers of troops to the suburbs of Ukraine, Kiev estimates that more than 100,000 and his recent moves, including joint military checks with Belarus on Ukraine’s northern border, are raising warnings from the West.

Australia and Canada have suspended the operations of their embassies in Kiev

Meanwhile, the governments of Australia and Canada followed the actions of the United States and the United Kingdom, which ordered the evacuation of staff from their embassies in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

Foreign Minister Maris Payne said in a statement that workers from the Australian embassy in Kiev had been sent to a temporary office in the western Ukraine city of Lviv, some 70 kilometers from the border with Poland.

“We continue to advise Australians to leave Ukraine immediately for trade,” Payne said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for the withdrawal of all citizens of his country, not just diplomats.

Assuring that the situation was “reaching a critical juncture”, Morrison said, “Russia’s unilateral actions to threaten and intimidate Ukraine are completely and utterly unacceptable.”

The Australian Prime Minister has called on China, an ally of Moscow, to recommend breaking the “thrilling silence” and resolving tensions in the face of the crisis.

On Saturday, the Canadian government announced the temporary closure of its embassy in Kiev. However, he noted that the consulate in Liv will continue to operate.

Spain urges its citizens to leave Ukraine

Although the Spanish government has not announced the closure of its diplomatic headquarters in the Ukrainian capital, it has announced in the past few hours that it is “strongly” recommending that all its nationals leave the country due to the volatile security situation.

The Spanish Ministry recommends leaving the country temporarily “on available trade routes as the current situation persists”.

The new recommendations have been adopted within the framework of a meeting of EU ambassadors in Kiev.

Similarly, the UK government has advised British citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible, while there are “business” ways to do so.

Amid increasing calls for the withdrawal of Western diplomats and the general public to follow the recommendations, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken acknowledged this Sunday that his country is maintaining a diplomatic path to resolve a new chapter in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

But there is no definite improvement right now. Moscow says it is disappointing that the United States and NATO have not responded to calls for the withdrawal of troops from European borders before 1997, when countries such as the former Soviet republics of Romania and Bulgaria withdrew from the Russian border. Joined.

Kiev has made it clear that it will not back down from its intention to join the military alliance. A red line that Moscow does not want to cross because NATO will get even closer to its location.

But from the West they confirm that Moscow has not yet received signs that it will not invade their neighbor, but rather increase the threats.

After a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Gelensky and Vladimir Putin earlier on February 8, French President Emmanuel Macron said the so-called Minsk Accord was important for resolving the complexities of tensions.

This is an agreement signed in February 2015 to defuse the war in Donbass. Separatist conflict following Putin’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014.

The agreement was reached with the so-called French city of Normandy, which was negotiated by a high-level diplomatic team comprising Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.

With Reuters, AP and EFE