Israel warns its citizens war in Ukraine may be ‘swift and harsh’
Israel again issued a stern warning to its citizens in Ukraine and called on them to leave the country as soon as possible as “the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine may be swift and harsh.”
Ukrainian flags together with Israeli flags wave in the wind in the Ukraine’s President, Petro Poroshenko, visit the Knesset. Jerusalem, Dec 2015. Photo by Hillel Maeir/TPS
The Foreign Ministry held another situation assessment on Saturday, and Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alon Ushpiz held a series of talks with “relevant parties” at the Munich Security Conference, and following the latest violent events in eastern Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry reiterated its call on Israeli citizens in Ukraine to “leave the country immediately.”
“The outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine may be swift and harsh,” it stressed.
To assist Israeli citizens, the Foreign Ministry has decided that Israel’s Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky and the embassy staff will remain in Kiev “for the time being” and will open the consular department of the embassy on Sunday to provide travel documents to citizens who require them.
Israeli carriers have boosted their flights from Ukraine to Israel in the past week, with thousands of Israelis and Jews fleeing the country ahead of a Russian invasion.
The Foreign Ministry is “following developments as well as the decisions of the United States and the United Kingdom to evacuate their embassies in Kyiv and to move them to the city of Lviv. Pending further decision, the Israeli embassy will remain in Kyiv for the time being; the aim of the MFA is to safeguard the State of Israel’s emissaries in Ukraine while providing a solution for Israeli citizens,” it stated.
The UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Saturday that Russia is planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945” and that “all the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris said that “I can say with absolute certainty if Russia further invades Ukraine the United States, together with our Allies and partners, will impose significant, and unprecedented economic costs.”
The latest US estimates are that between 169,000 and 190,000 Russian troops are stationed along Ukraine’s border.
