Ukraine Crisis: US Closes Embassy, Destroys Computers As Germany’s Scholz Flies to Moscow

By Staff, Agencies 

German chancellor Olaf Scholz will land in Moscow Tuesday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to avert war.

Scholz, who was in Kyiv on Monday, warned that any Russian attack on Ukraine would be met with heavy economic consequences, adding that the “territorial integrity of Ukraine is not negotiable”.

The chancellor has said he will hammer home the message from the west that they are open to dialogue about Russia’s security concerns but will impose sanctions if it invades Ukraine.

“We are ready for very far-reaching and effective sanctions in coordination with our allies,” he said on Monday.

Hours earlier, the United States announced it was shuttering its embassy in Kiev amid growing security tensions between Moscow and the US-led NATO over Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the announcement, saying the department was relocating its limited embassy staff from Kiev to Lviv.

“We are in the process of temporarily relocating our Embassy operations in Ukraine from our Embassy in Kiev to Lviv due to the dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces,” Blinken said in a statement.

Blinken went on to say that the Biden administration remains engaged with the Ukrainian government and is continuing “intensive diplomatic efforts to deescalate the crisis.”

“These prudent precautions in no way undermine our support for or our commitment to Ukraine. Our commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is unwavering,” Blinken continued.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported separately that US embassy staff were destroying computer equipment before leaving the building.

This comes as a 40-minute call between Boris Johnson and Joe Biden on Monday night resulted by announcing that there remains a “crucial window for diplomacy and for Russia to step back from its threats towards Ukraine.”

Britain said the two leaders emphasized the importance of unity and, while neither the UK nor the US will send troops to defend Ukraine, they insisted that any further Russian incursion “would result in a protracted crisis for Russia with far-reaching damage for both Russia and the world.”