The head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, said that he would not leave Kiev, and also called the information disseminated by the media that he allegedly called on the staff of the EU Delegation to immediately leave Ukraine as a fake.
“Since the flow of fake news, which began with the submission of http://ukr.net, is still ongoing, I repeat: I am and remain in Kiev,” the head of the EU Delegation wrote on Twitter.
Since the fake news which started from https://t.co/MNi38gkgc6 is still spreading, I repeat:
I am in Kyiv and am staying here.
I'm staying at Kiev.
— Matti Maasikas (@MattiMaasikas) February 11, 2022
Matti Maasikas made his statement against the backdrop of the ongoing hysteria of the United States, which claims that Russia “at any moment” can attack Ukraine.
However, the head of the British diplomatic mission, Melinda Simmons, does not plan to leave the Ukrainian capital either.
“I remain in Kiev and continue to work here along with the core group of staff,” she noted on her Twitter page, stressing that the embassy “continues to work.”
I am staying in Kyiv and continue to work there with a core team.
The embassy remains operational.
https://t.co/WWvIz4uIT4
— Melinda Simmons (@MelSimmonsFCDO) February 12, 2022
We will remind, earlier London announced the reduction of the staff of its embassy in Kiev in connection with the “growing threat from Russia”.
According to the British authorities, the diplomatic service remains open, but will not be able to provide personal consular assistance.
At the same time, according to media reports, the state flag was removed from the British diplomatic mission in the Ukrainian capital, the building is not lit and there is no security around it.
In addition, London decided to take all its military instructors out of Ukraine.
This was stated by British Deputy Minister of Defense James Hippie in an interview with the BBC.
According to him, the military of the United Kingdom will leave Ukrainian territory on February 12-13.
In turn, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock announced a reduction in the number of employees of the German diplomatic mission in the Ukrainian capital.
“We will keep our embassy in Kiev open, but we will reduce the number of diplomatic personnel sent there.
Our Consulate General in Donetsk, which has been located in Dnipro since 2014, will be temporarily moved to Lviv (Lemberg),” Burbock quotes the German Foreign Ministry on his official Twitter account.
„Wir werden unsere Botschaft in #Kiew offen halten, aber das entsandte diplomatische Personal dort reduzieren.
Unser Generalkonsulat Donezk, seit 2014 mit Sitz in Dnipro, wird vorübergehend nach Lwiw (Lemberg) verlegt." - AMin @ABaerbock. 2/3
— Auswaertiges Amt (@AuswaertigesAmt) February 12, 2022
As for the United States, "due to the continued threat of military action from Russia," the State Department ordered that the majority of American employees "working for direct employment" leave the territory of the US embassy in Kiev.
In addition, starting February 13, the State Department will suspend the provision of consular services at the US diplomatic mission in the Ukrainian capital.
“The Embassy will maintain a small consular presence in Ukrainian Lviv to address emergency issues, but will not be able to provide passport, visa and regular consular services,” the State Department said in a statement posted on the official website.
US Embassy in Kiev
© Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The department also urged Americans not to visit Ukraine, and US citizens who are there are urged to immediately leave Ukrainian territory.
Other Western countries, including the UK, Australia, Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Belgium, have made similar appeals to their populations.
Accusatory context
The excitement of Western states related to the work of their embassies in Ukraine began after the American publication Politico reported, citing sources, that the head of the White House, Joe Biden, at a video conference with the leaders of Western countries, the European Union and NATO, called the exact date of Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine - February 16.
“Several U.S. officials confirmed to Politico that Russia would launch a physical attack on Ukraine as early as February 16, and Washington has brought to the attention of allies that this could be preceded by a series of missile strikes and cyberattacks,” the publication says.
At the same time, Politico writes that the Europeans made it clear to journalists that "they have a different picture."
“Regarding the intelligence on February 16, a British official said: “We have a different interpretation.”
Meanwhile, two EU diplomats were even more skeptical.
According to one of them, they “still refuse to believe it,” Politico quotes the words of European representatives.
At the same time, the journalists of the publication themselves doubt the veracity of the information regarding the “attack” of the Russian Federation on Ukraine.
“It is possible that the intelligence about February 16 is “raw” and is not a general assessment of the situation in the United States, which could explain the huge difference in forecasts about how soon to wait for Putin’s attack, and whether it will happen in principle,” asks Politico .
US information about an “imminent attack” by Russia began to look even more absurd after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, talking to reporters, said that Kiev had no information about Russia’s supposedly planned “invasion” on February 16.
Moreover, he turned to journalists with a request to provide him with information about the 100% "attack" of the Russian Federation on Ukrainian territories, if they have any.
The words of the Ukrainian leader were commented by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova in her Telegram channel.
As the diplomat noted, the United States has been saying every day for two months that Ukraine “is about to be attacked by Russia”, however, the Ukrainian leader and representatives of the power bloc in Kiev claim that “they do not have such information, and now they are also asking those who are not indifferent to share data” .
“Apart from Bloomberg, Der Spiegel and unnamed American sources, no one has such information.
But, apparently, until the ideological inspirers of the Maidans bring Ukraine to a complete collapse, they will not calm down.
For two months they have been mocking common sense and the Ukrainian people, implementing another global provocative campaign, ”Zakharova emphasized.
The fact that the United States and its allies launched a propaganda campaign about “Russian aggression” against Ukraine was also announced on February 12 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during telephone conversations with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
According to the Russian minister, this campaign has provocative aims, encouraging Kiev to sabotage the Minsk agreements and harmful attempts to resolve the "Donbass problem" by force.
Later that day, during a telephone conversation, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation associated with "provocative speculation about the allegedly planned Russian" invasion "of Ukraine."
This was informed by the press service of the Kremlin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron
© Chesnot/Getty Images
At the same time, in a message posted on the website of the Elysee Palace, it is said that the French leader informed his Russian colleague about the concerns experienced by the European partners and allies of Paris.
"On the verge of losing control"
As HSE professor Dmitry Evstafiev noted in an interview with RT, the mass hysteria associated with Russia's notorious "invasion" of Ukraine showed that the so-called collective West is taking multidirectional actions.
“Despite the fact that they manage to maintain a common propaganda mainstream in public, at the level of real politics, declaring the threat of an “attack” by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian territories, there are quite serious differences.
As, for example, in the situation around the diplomatic departments in Ukraine,” the expert said.
The fact that the EU, Germany and the UK have publicly announced the continuation of the work of their diplomatic missions in Ukraine, while the United States has practically curtailed the work of the embassy, speaks of Europe's unwillingness to "lose face", Yevstafiev believes.
“If the Europeans fully subscribed to the latest idiocy of American propaganda about the alleged “invasion” of the Russian Federation scheduled for February 16, then they would completely and irrevocably spoil their image as sane partners,” the analyst noted.
At the same time, according to Evstafiev, participating in the anti-Russian information campaign, Europe and the West as a whole are "on the verge of losing control over their propaganda and hysterical actions."
“They have turned the hysteria to such an extent that they themselves are about to lose control over it.
At the same time, for some reason, neither the Europeans nor the Americans want to pay attention to Zelensky’s statements, who woke up and demanded at least some confirmation of the information that Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine would begin 100%,” he explained.
According to Evstafiev, Europe understands that Washington is deliberately fanning hysteria around the "invasion" of the Russian Federation in order to slow down the development of Russia, but "they cannot say anything against it, and some EU states do not want to."
“At the same time, European countries are aware that Washington is pushing them into a confrontation with Russia, taking them into de facto subordination,” the analyst said.
In turn, Sergey Yermakov, an expert at the RISS Research Coordination Center, noted that the State Department’s statements about the suspension of consular services at the US Embassy are intended to “warm up panic” due to Russia’s alleged plans to “attack” Ukraine.
“However, despite the hysteria organized by the United States, Europe does not fully believe that Russia will really attack Ukraine.
Hence the reaction of the EU, Germany and the UK, which, unlike Washington, did not stop the work of their diplomatic missions, ”he said.
European Commission
© Getty Images
Yermakov agrees with Evstafiev that in the West "there is no solidity in business" even in the history of the notorious "Russian invasion."
“Therefore, we cannot talk about a consolidated West.
There is a real mess when everyone acts in their own way, but the public still declares that Russia is to blame for everything, ”the analyst emphasized.
At the same time, Yermakov believes that European politicians, despite public statements accusing the Russian Federation, in fact still behave more carefully than their American partners.
“Europeans live on the same continent with Russia and Ukraine.
And they are well aware that if Washington is able to provoke an acute phase of the conflict in the Donbass, it will be worse for Europe, first of all, whose security is already at an extremely low level due to the actions of the United States and NATO,” the expert concluded.