«Russia wants to provoke Ukrainian forces» – a Press-Attaché of the US Embassy in Ukraine
Do you feel safe in Lviv? How long does the American embassy plan to stay in Lviv and what should be the signal that you can return to Kyiv?
The question of whether I feel safe in Lviv is quite difficult. Given the general situation, when more than 150,000 troops have been deployed at the border, as another 7,000 have arrived in the last few days, we understand that Russia could strike at any moment.
It is clear that Lviv is a safer city, because it is further geographically from the place where most Russian troops are located, closer to the Polish border, so in case of necessity, we could leave faster. However, we do not want to do that at all, we are persistently working on a diplomatic solution and de-escalation.
We will stay here as long as possible, as long as this window is there, a period of time when negotiations and de-escalation can take place. We can do a lot here. We have to meet with various organizations, diplomats, government officials.
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How much time would this window take? Are we talking about months, days?
Russian forces could strike at any time because they have already positioned themselves to launch an invasion. They have also begun to spread misinformation, which is of great concern to us, as it may create the preconditions for an invasion.
It should be understood that when Putin talks about the Ukrainian genocide in Donbas or that Ukrainians are somehow harming the Russian-speaking population, he is trying to create a narrative that will allow him to carry out a new invasion.
We should also note that this new movement to recognize the independence of the so-called «LNR» and «DNR» may be a reason, a way to justify the invasion by the alleged need to protect the Russian-speaking population.
Today, the activity of hostilities along the entire line of contact on the Russian side has significantly increased. It seems that they are trying to provoke Ukrainian forces [earlier, the Kremlin stated that Kyiv «intensifies provocations in the Donbas»]. The situation is very precarious.
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What are your latest data on the security situation on Ukraine’s borders? Russia says it is withdrawing troops, America denies it, how is it now?
We know that Russia is not a reliable source of information. Neither their television, nor Vladimir Putin, nor their Foreign Minister Lavrov are telling the truth.
Therefore, we understand that everything they say should be checked. Unfortunately, we have not seen any signs of withdrawal so far. On the contrary, they have brought another 7,000 to the border and now there are more than 150,000 servicemen.
We still believe that this window of negotiation continues to exist, and we urge President Putin to choose the path of negotiations, and it is very easy for him, Russia just need to withdraw its troops and discuss issues that concern them.
However, he has no right to redraw borders at will, he has no right to indicate whether Ukraine can join NATO, and in general, to create spheres of influence as in the nineteenth century. And we will not discuss such issues at all, they cannot be raised.
Ukraine asks the world community not to recognize the self-proclaimed republics «LNR» and «DNR». What is your position on this question?
These are Ukrainian sovereign territories, Russia has invaded them, occupied them and must withdraw its troops from there. This is actually a pretty simple question because it is Ukrainian territory.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi has invited US President Joe Biden to Ukraine. How possible is such a visit?
I haven’t heard an official response yet, but given that we are urging American citizens to leave Ukraine, I do not think he will be able to agree to this now.
In fact, the situation is very serious and we must ensure the safety of our citizens, so we ask them to leave. Thus, we are not trying to create panic, but on the contrary – to aggressively, actively tell what we see from Russia’s actions and, thus, to destroy their plans.
Do you have any approximate figures on how many Americans have left Ukraine and which part of them remain here?
It’s difficult, people don’t tell us about their entry or exit. We use such a rough figure for planning – there are 6,600 American citizens in Ukraine, but the real number may be higher or lower. Of course, it varies depending on the tourist season.
Could you tell us, do you know when the appointment of the ambassador will finally take place because there has been no US ambassador to Ukraine for more than two years?
It will be soon. I do not know why this process takes so long, [but] it’s usually long-lasting, because the candidate is nominated, his candidacy is submitted to the Ukrainian government for approval by the government, then this candidate is considered in the Senate, the Senate approves him, and finally, he can come as an Ambassador.
The name of the candidate was announced but it wasn’t official. The official person has not been officially appointed yet. But I can assure you that one of the first cities to be visited by the new ambassador to Ukraine will be Lviv, because it is one of our favourite cities. [Media has already reported information that diplomatic mission to Ukraine will be headed by Bridget Brink, Radio Liberty writes. Her candidacy has already been approved by President Joe Biden, but has not yet been officially presented – the White House says waiting for the approval of the diplomat by the Ukrainian authorities].
How do you respond to the accusations that the relocation of the embassy from Kyiv to Lviv is a panic because most European embassies have remained in Kyiv?
However, five embassies moved to Lviv. We must take care of people, our employees and ensure their safety. According to our estimates, they were not safe in Kyiv now. And we did it with such prudent planning, in case there is a Russian invasion. So that we can take our people out if the roads are blocked or there are no flights.
Also, pay attention to the process itself: when we are talking about any threats, we must recommend to Americans what to do in such a situation.
We are also trying to actively disclose our intelligence to raise awareness of the threats that currently exist. We must also give this information to our citizens and tell them that they should leave. And by disclosing such information, we are trying to thwart Russia’s plans, and some say we are undermining the security of the state, but we are trying to prevent war, not provoke it.
We will add that Russia can use a contrived pretext for full-scale aggression against Ukraine – a terrorist attack on Russian territory, the discovery of mass graves, the shelling of civilians or a real or fake attack using chemical weapons. This was stated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
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«Russia can portray this event as genocide or ethnic cleansing,» Blinken warned. After that, according to him, the Russian authorities will convene an emergency meeting in a «theatre-worthy way», Russian missiles and bombs will hit targets in Ukraine, there will be cyberattacks and blocking of communications.
It will be recalled that the intelligence of NATO member states claims that the number of Russian militants subordinate to Russian special services has increased in Ukraine. Russia may be preparing provocations with these militants to create a pretext for launching a large-scale invasion. At the same time, according to the US State Department, Putin has not yet made a final decision on the invasion.
Victoria Savitska
Translated by Vitalii Holich
You can read a Ukrainian language version of this story here.
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