U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) foreign ministers press conference in Melbourne, Australia, February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders

HONOLULU, Feb 12 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday the risk of Russian military action in Ukraine was high and imminent enough to warrant the departure of many embassy staff American in Kyiv, which the State Department announced. earlier.

“We have ordered the departure of most Americans still at the US Embassy in Kyiv. The risk of Russian military action is high enough and the threat is imminent enough that it is the prudent thing to do,” Blinken said at a press conference in Honolulu. .

Most embassy staff were ordered to leave Ukraine immediately due to the threat of a Russian invasion, with the department saying it looked increasingly likely that the situation would unravel. headed for “a kind of active conflict”.

This is in addition to the State Department’s call earlier this week for private US citizens to leave Ukraine immediately.

US warnings that the buildup of more than 100,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders could herald an invasion have become increasingly urgent in recent days. Moscow has denied plans to invade, calling the US warnings “hysteria” and saying it has its own security concerns about what it calls aggression by NATO allies.

Speaking after meeting his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, Blinken reiterated that a diplomatic solution remained possible and that the way forward was for Moscow to defuse.

“The diplomatic path remains open. The way for Moscow to show that it wants to continue down this path is simple. It should defuse rather than escalate,” Blinken said.

Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Honolulu; Editing by William Mallard

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