Kyiv, Ukraine. The US Embassy in Kyiv said on Thursday that it remains open and denied reports of any changes to its operations after Russia warned diplomats and foreigners to leave the Ukrainian capital before escalating attacks.
Embassy response
In a post on X, the embassy said there had been no changes to its operations. “The US Embassy is open. There are no changes to our operations and reports otherwise are false,” it said.
Reports and comments
Some Ukrainian media on Thursday cited remarks by European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that the US embassy had left the capital. Kallas told reporters on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Cyprus that all foreign embassies in Kyiv had ignored the threat of attacks from Moscow except one.
“What we heard from Ukraine yesterday was that all the embassies stayed except one,” Kallas said. “All the Europeans stayed. America left.”
Ukraine reaction
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, told reporters that Ukraine had heard some American diplomats had left Kyiv at the time of the latest Russian strike on Sunday. He added that Ukraine was grateful to all embassies working in Kyiv and supporting Ukraine.
Diplomatic fallout
Several EU states summoned their Russian ambassadors after Moscow issued its warning to foreigners to leave on Monday.
A representative of the U.S. embassy in Kyiv declined to comment on Lytvyn’s remarks.