[Global Web Report] According to the Associated Press, the United States will withdraw its embassy staff in Ukraine as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian "invasion" of Ukraine is imminent.
The report quoted U.S. officials as saying that the State Department plans to announce early on the 12th local time that all U.S. staff at the Kyiv embassy in Ukraine will be required to leave the country before Russia "invades" Ukraine.
However, the U.S. State Department declined to comment.
Some U.S. diplomats may move to western Ukraine, near the border of NATO ally Poland, to maintain their diplomatic presence, the sources said.
The report also mentioned that the U.S. State Department had previously ordered the family members of the U.S. embassy staff in Kiev to leave.
U.S. President Biden urged U.S. citizens in Ukraine to "leave immediately" on the 10th local time, claiming that "things could get crazy soon."
White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan claimed on the 11th local time that Russia may begin to "invade" Ukraine during the Winter Olympics.
He also urged Americans in Ukraine to leave Ukraine within 24 to 48 hours.
Russia's ambassador to the United States, Antonov, later in the day dismissed claims by U.S. politicians that Russia intends to attack Ukraine during or after the Winter Olympics.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova commented on Sullivan's remarks on the 11th, saying, "The hysteria in the White House is more typical than ever before, and the Anglo-Saxons need war at all costs."
Zakharova also said that provocation and propaganda of false information are the usual methods of the United States to solve its own problems.