Ukrainian FM: Decision to evacuate families of foreign embassy officers in Ukraine premature

KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax) - The decision by a number of countries to evacuate family members of employees of their diplomatic missions in Ukraine is premature, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

"We are absolutely convinced that the decision to evacuate family members of embassy employees is premature at the moment. There are no real objective preconditions for that. I absolutely wouldn't like to downplay the situation, the level of the threat, and the level of prospects of its further development, but everything should be done at the right time and be thought-out, and therefore, I think we should have an honest position," Kuleba said in a program on the ICTV television channel on Monday.

Only four embassies have announced their decision to start evacuating family members of their embassy officials in Ukraine for security reasons, Kuleba said. Another 129 diplomatic missions in Ukraine, including consulates located in Ukrainian regions bordering Russia, have not evacuated their officials or their family members, he said.

The decision to start evacuation will not have a negative impact on the operations of these embassies and their functions, he said.

"They will continue to work on supporting Ukraine and developing bilateral relations," he said.