Ukraine: some embassies move or close over Russian invasion concerns

Several countries have moved their diplomat missions and staff from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv to the western city of Lyiv fearing an imminent Russian invasion.

The Israeli foreign ministry said on Monday that it was moving its embassy to Lviv, close to the border with Poland. In parallel, the United States announced it was relocating its diplomatic staff - who had already been moved to Lyiv days before - to Poland for their safety.

It comes after a serious upturn in tensions between the West and Russia after President Vladimir Putin's fiery speech on Monday evening with the US announcing measures to protect diplomatic staff in Ukraine.

"For security reasons, Department of State personnel currently in Lviv will spend the night in Poland," the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced in a statement. "Our personnel will regularly return to continue their diplomatic work in Ukraine and provide emergency consular services."

Other countries have rejected the idea of closing their diplomatic missions for now. Italy stated on Sunday that its embassy remained "fully operational".

It is not clear what impact President Vladimir Putin's speech on Monday evening formally recognising two breakaway regions of Ukraine and effectively ordering the invasion of eastern Ukraine had.

Over the past weeks, several embassies advised their citizens to leave Ukraine and removed non-essential diplomatic staff from the country as tensions mounted at the Russian-Ukrainian border. Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all asked their citizens to leave Ukraine earlier this month.

The United States and its allies have been warning for weeks of a Russian plan to invade Ukraine after Putin massed between 150,000 and 200,000 Russian troops on the border.

Putin said late on Monday that Russia recognised the independence of two regions of Ukraine in which Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian army for months. Ukraine has denounced the move as a violation of its sovereignty, raising fears of a deadly war between the two countries.

The US, EU, and UK have also condemned the move.