“We do not encourage withdrawal. At present, non-essential staff have the option to work out of the country,” said Peter Stano, a spokesman for the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security.
“With close consultation and coordination with EU member states, we continue to assess the situation as it develops,” he added.
Estonian Matti Maasikas, head of the European delegation in Kiev, today urged non-essential workers to leave Ukraine “as soon as possible”, according to an email from the EU-Abserver portal.
An EU diplomatic spokesman declined to comment on the content of the “email”.
Latvia and Estonia today asked their citizens to leave Ukraine because of the “serious security threat posed by Russia near the Ukrainian border and a credible threat of escalating situation,” the foreign ministries of these countries said.
Oslo, Washington and London sent the same message to their citizens this Friday.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry today announced that it has prepared a device for the withdrawal of Spaniards from Ukraine, which will be “implemented if necessary”.
Spanish diplomatic sources have confirmed the information to EFE and said they were investigating the situation and liaising with EU allies and allies.
While some countries and organizations are advising their citizens and non-essential workers to leave Ukraine, other EU countries, such as NATO and Spain, have, for now, decided not to “change anything”.
US diplomat Anthony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned today that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could still take place during the Winter Olympics in Beijing until February 20.
Russia has sent more than 100,000 troops to Ukraine’s borders, where it is currently maneuvering, raising fears in the West of military action against Kiev.
Moscow, which already annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, denies any aggression towards Ukraine, but reduces any extension of the continuing demands, including a guarantee that Kiev will never join NATO, something that is unacceptable to the West.
Several rounds of diplomatic talks in recent days have made no progress in resolving the crisis, which the West describes as one of the most dangerous since the end of the Cold War three decades ago.
Washington and European countries have also announced that they will send thousands of troops to Eastern Europe in support of Ukraine.
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