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German Embassy in Kiev
Photo: GLEB GARANICH / REUTERS
Will Russia attack Ukraine - or is the Kremlin just threatening?
In the confusing situation, the Federal Foreign Office has now drawn the consequences from the escalation of the situation in Ukraine and is financing a voluntary departure for family members of employees of the embassy in Kiev.
That also applies to German organizations such as the Goethe-Institut, the German Academic Exchange Service and the German Society for International Cooperation, said foreign ministry spokesman Christopher Burger.
"This is a measure we are taking to ensure the safety of the people we are responsible for there."
US government goes even further
However, the ability of the embassy in Kiev to work is guaranteed, said Burger.
"We still need our diplomatic presence on the ground to support Ukraine in this situation."
The Federal Foreign Office is not going as far as the US government, which is reducing the number of embassy employees in Kiev in view of the tense situation in the Ukraine conflict with Russia. The US State Department announced that employees who were not immediately required to leave the country voluntarily had been approved because of the ongoing threat from Russian military action. Family members of diplomats have been asked to leave Ukraine.
With a massive Russian troop deployment near Ukraine, there are fears in the West that the Kremlin may be planning an invasion of the neighboring country.
However, it is also considered possible that fears are only being stirred up in order to persuade the NATO states to make concessions when demands for new security guarantees are made.
It is Russia's declared goal, for example, that NATO refrain from further eastward expansion and withdraw its armed forces from eastern alliance states.
NATO and the EU reject these demands as unacceptable.
muk/dpa
