Australia evacuates remaining Kyiv embassy staffers to safety

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) – Australia is completely evacuating its embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv amid fears that a Russian invasion may be imminent.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday said the situation in Ukraine is reaching a "very dangerous" stage and condemned Russia’s actions as "utterly unacceptable."

Saying that Australia has already moved the families and other staffers based in Kyiv, Morrison said the remaining three staffers there have been instructed to move to a temporary office in Lviv, western Ukraine, near the Polish border.

The decision follows similar announcements from the US, Canada, and many other countries.

"I want to send a very clear message on behalf of Australia – a liberal democracy who believes in freedom and the sovereignty of states, not just in Europe but in our own region as well – that the autocratic, unilateral actions of Russia to be threatening and bullying Ukraine is something that is completely and utterly unacceptable," Morrison added.

He also criticized China for remaining "chillingly silent on Russian troops amassing on the Ukrainian border."

"The coalition of autocracies that we are seeing, seeking to bully other countries is not something that Australia ever takes a light position on and certainly my government never has," he said.

Moscow recently amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning another military offensive against its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Russia denies it is preparing to invade and accuses Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion towards its borders.

The Kremlin also issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states, and guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia would not join NATO.