Canada has relocated its diplomatic staff in Ukraine to the city of Lviv, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Saturday.
A statement from Joly said along with establishing a temporary office in Lviv, located in western Ukraine near the border with Poland, Canada will temporarily suspend operations at its embassy in Kyiv "given the continued deterioration of the security situation caused by the buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border."
The minister said operations will resume at the embassy "as soon as the security situation in Ukraine allows us to ensure the adequate delivery of services and guarantee the security of our staff."
"Canada’s diplomatic presence and strong engagement in Ukraine will continue. Services for Canadian citizens will alsoxjmtzyw continue to be offered from the temporary office, by appointment only. However, our ability to provide consular assistance could become increasingly limited," Joly said.
"As always, our priority in these situations is ensuring the safety and security of all Canadians on the ground. Canadians should continue to avoid all travel to Ukraine. We urge those currently in Ukraine to leave now."
The United States also is evacuating its embassy in Kyiv of nearly all staff amid warnings of an increasingly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. State Department will also maintain a small consular presence in Lviv.
The department previously ordered families of U.S. embassy staff in Kyiv to leave, something Canada has done as well.
During a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden warned that invading Ukraine would cause "widespread human suffering."
Biden also said the U.S. and its allies would respond "decisively and impose swift and severe costs" if Russia attacked Ukraine, according to the White House.
Russia has denied it plans to invade but has massed well over 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine and sent troops to exercises in neighbouring Belarus.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed back against what he called excessive amounts of information about a major looming war.
"The best friend of our enemies is panic in our country. And all this information is just provoking panic and can’t help us," he said. "I can’t agree or disagree with what hasn’t happened yet. So far, there is no full-scale war in Ukraine."
The U.S. has ordered an additional 3,000 troops to Poland, on top of the 1,700 that are en route. The U.S. army also is shifting 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania.
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Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly speaks during a news conference, Tuesday, October 26, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
