The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv denied reports that American diplomats had left Ukraine after Moscow warned foreign nationals to evacuate ahead of threatened strikes.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said it remains open and operating after Russia warned foreign diplomats and other foreign nationals to leave Ukraine ahead of threatened new attacks on the capital.
“The U.S. Embassy is open,” the mission wrote in a May 28 post on X. “There are no changes to our operations, and reports otherwise are false.”
The embassy said the State Department “has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans and regularly reviews the security posture of Embassy Kyiv.”
“We reiterate our message that Americans should not travel to Ukraine for any reason due to the armed conflict,” the embassy said.
The statement followed confusion over whether U.S. personnel had left Kyiv after Russia warned of additional strikes. Kaja Kallas, the European Union high representative for foreign affairs, initially told reporters May 28 that Ukraine had informed officials that “all the embassies stayed except one.”
“That also takes courage from those embassies. But yes, all the Europeans stayed. America left,” Kallas said.
The official transcript was later corrected to state that “all the embassies stayed.” A note said the remarks had been updated “with a correction with regard to the diplomatic presence in Kyiv.”
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhy also rejected reports that U.S. diplomats had departed.
“Reports of the U.S. Embassy’s departure do not correspond to reality,” Tykhy said, according to Ukraine’s Interfax news agency.
The diplomatic dispute followed a Russian warning earlier this week advising foreign nationals to leave Ukraine. Moscow said it was preparing further strikes on Kyiv in response to a Ukrainian drone attack on a university in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Ukraine of “crimes against our people” and “rude disdain for the norms of international humanitarian law,” alleging that Kyiv had “deliberately” targeted civilians.
The ministry said Russia’s military had begun “consistent and systemic strikes” against Ukrainian defense industry sites, particularly facilities connected to the design, production and programming of drones.
“Due to the fact that the above-mentioned facilities are scattered across Kyiv, we are notifying foreign citizens, including the personnel of diplomatic missions and international organizations, of the need to leave the city as soon as possible,” the ministry said.
Russian officials also urged Kyiv residents to stay away from military and administrative infrastructure.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Moscow’s warning “nothing short of shameless blackmail,” saying Russia was acknowledging that its strikes were intended to intimidate foreign diplomats.
The exchange came after a Russian attack on Kyiv on May 24 that included a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile.
The United States has said it remains committed to working toward a negotiated end to the war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington “stands ready and prepared to help do whatever we can to help facilitate the end of this war, and hopefully the opportunity will present itself at some point.”
Rubio said May 22 that although no talks were taking place at the time, he hoped that would change because the conflict “can only end with a negotiated settlement.”
“It will not end with a military victory by one side or the other, at least from a traditional standpoint of how military victories are defined,” Rubio said.
The Russia-Ukraine war is now in its fifth year. The latest warnings and denials over embassy operations underscore the continued danger facing Kyiv as the United States says it is pursuing diplomacy while keeping its mission open.
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