Netherlands to move embassy in Ukraine over security concerns

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - The Netherlands on Sunday announced that it would temporarily relocate its embassy in the Ukrainian capital to another city for security reasons.

The embassy in Kyiv will continue its operations from the western city of Lviv for the time being, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

Tensions have risen dramatically in eastern Ukraine in recent days, with reports of a growing number of cease-fire violations, multiple shelling incidents, and evacuation of civilians from the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Western countries have accused Russia of amassing nearly 150,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, prompting fears that it could be planning a military offensive against its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any plan to invade Ukraine and instead accused Western countries of undermining Russia's security through NATO's expansion toward its borders.