The United States has ordered the withdrawal of 160 US troops training Ukrainian forces to “relocate elsewhere in Europe,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said today.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made the decision regarding the Florida National Guard soldiers “for precautionary reasons, given the security of (US) forces,” according to a press release.
“This repositioning is not a change in our determination to support the Ukrainian forces, but it will provide some flexibility to reassure our allies and prevent any attack,” he added.
Since 2015, US National Guard reservists have been training the Ukrainian military alongside troops from other NATO countries, particularly Canadians and Germans.
Washington orders withdrawal of most staff from embassy in Kiev
The United States today ordered the withdrawal of most of its staff from its embassy in Kiev, considering the possibility of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine possible.
Washington has also announced the withdrawal of almost all of its last US troops from Ukraine.
On a day rich in diplomatic contacts, US and Russian Defense Ministers Lloyd Austin and Sergei Shoigu respectively “discussed the issue of strengthening Russian forces in Crimea and around Ukraine,” according to a Pentagon statement.
An indication of growing concern in the United States, “the State Department has ordered the departure of most of its staff at the embassy in Kiev,” according to a new traveler information posted on the Internet.
The embassy will maintain a small consular post in Lviv, in western Ukraine, about 70 kilometers from the Polish border, to manage urgent problems, the State Department said.
“It is prudent for us to be prepared for the manipulative scenario,” said a senior State Department official, who did not want to be named. “Unfortunately, there is growing evidence that we are moving in that direction.”
