Washington had already requested on January 23 the departure of the families of American diplomats from Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.
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The United States on Monday (January 31st) ordered the families of US government employees stationed in Belarus to leave the country, due to tensions with Russia over Ukraine. The State Department, behind this measure, also advised American nationals not to travel to the country because, in particular, “of the risk of detention and the unusual and disturbing Russian military presence along Belarus’ border with Ukraine”.
Washington had already requested on January 23 the departure of the families of American diplomats from Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, “due to the continuing threat of a Russian military operation”. Local staff and non-essential staff could also leave the embassy in Ukraine if they wished.
Westerners are deeply worried about a massive deployment of troops on the borders with Ukraine by Russia, which is asking for assurances that Kiev will not join NATO. On Monday, during a vehement exchange between Washington and Moscow on this dossier at the UN Security Council, the United States accused Russia of wanting to further deploy “by the beginning of February more than 30,000 soldiers” in Belarus, northern Ukraine.