Kiev, Feb 12 : UK Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons said on Saturday that she continues running the embassy in Kiev together with the core personnel despite growing tensions and the departure of families of diplomats. On Monday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia informed it about their intention to evacuate families of diplomats.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said member countries of the bloc are not going to evacuate their diplomatic staff from Ukraine. “I am staying in Kyiv and continue to work there with a core team. The embassy remains operational,” Simmons wrote on Twitter. Ukraine and several Western countries have been accusing Russia of military build-up along the Ukrainian border in an alleged preparation of invasion. Russia has rejected these accusations. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was not threatening anyone but was being threatened. Moreover, Russia warned Western counterparts supplying lethal weaponry to Ukraine that the latter could use it against the breakaway parts of the Donbas region.
