The U.S. State Department said on the 12th that some U.S. diplomatic personnel in Kiev are being transferred to Lviv in western Ukraine due to security concerns, and the State Department urged U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible. Ukraine’s neighbor Poland has agreed to simplify entry procedures for U.S. citizens so they can leave Ukraine, according to the U.S. embassy in Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said at a press conference in Hawaii on the 12th that the United States ordered most of the embassy in Ukraine to evacuate because “the risk of Russian military action (against Ukraine) is high enough and the threat is high enough. It is imminent and needs to be handled with caution.”

Blinken said the U.S. will retain a “core diplomatic team” in Ukraine, working with Ukrainian employees after most of its diplomats leave.

The relationship between Ukraine and Russia has continued to be tense recently, and the two sides have deployed a large number of military personnel and weapons in the border areas of the two countries. The United States, Ukraine and NATO allege that Russia has assembled heavy forces near Ukraine’s eastern border in preparation for an “invasion” of Ukraine. Russia denies it, emphasizing that NATO activities threaten Russia’s border security, and Russia has the right to mobilize troops within its borders to defend its territory.

The United States has recently continued to play up the risk of war between Russia and Ukraine, claiming that Russia will “find an excuse to invade Ukraine” in the next few days. However, the Associated Press quoted Zelensky’s aide as saying that Zelensky called Biden for about an hour on the 13th, insisting that Ukraine was under”safe and reliable protection.”

According to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Zelensky thanked Biden for continuing to provide military support to Ukraine. At the same time, he said that Ukraine is not a member of NATO, “so only a strong Ukrainian military can ensure the security of our country.” During the call, Zelensky also invited Biden to “visit Kiev in the next few days” as a “strong signal” of support for Ukraine to help stabilize the situation.

However, the statement issued by the White House on the same day did not mention the above invitation, but said that the leaders of the two countries agreed to deal with Russia’s military build-up on the Russian-Ukrainian border with a combination of diplomacy and containment.

German Chancellor’s visit to Ukraine and Russia is imminent – Ukraine wants investment guarantee

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled to visit Ukraine on the 14th, followed by a visit to Russia to mediate in order to ease the situation in Russia and Ukraine. The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany said before Scholz’s visit that Ukraine looked forward to an equal dialogue with Germany and hoped that Germany would give investment guarantees.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnik said in a program on German Radio that Ukraine wants to be an equal partner of Germany, not a beggar. The Ukrainian side hopes to have a “frank dialogue” with the German side.

Scholz will meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky during his visit to Ukraine, and is scheduled to travel to Moscow, the Russian capital, on the 15th to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Melnik hopes that during Scholz’s visit to Ukraine, a multi-billion-euro aid package will be announced to support the Ukrainian economy. He said that the German government must provide political guarantees for German investment in Ukraine. In addition, Germany should implement a program to reduce lending rates for Ukrainian companies.

Melnik reiterated that the Ukrainian government wants Germany to provide defensive weapons and supports Ukraine’s entry into the European Union. “We hope that the Germans are aware of the seriousness of the situation, that we can get help, that (Ukraine) can hopefully get defensive weapons and economic support,” he said.

The German government has previously said that Germany will not provide Ukraine with weapons and will provide support in other ways. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said in an exclusive interview published by German newspaper Die Welt on January 22 that Germany will “hand over a complete field hospital” to Ukraine in February and provide relevant training.

The United States and other Western countries have recently been exaggerating the tendency of Russia to “invade” Ukraine, emphasizing that there is intelligence showing that the “invasion” may happen before February 20. In a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the 12th, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken claimed that the US would “quickly” impose economic sanctions on Russia once Russia “invades” Ukraine.

Regarding the situation in Russia and Ukraine, Scholz only reiterated that Russia will pay a high price for “invasion” of Ukraine, but did not specify what measures Germany will take to sanction Russia. When Scholz visited the United States on the 7th, media reporters repeatedly asked whether the German side would terminate the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline project as the United States said once Russia “invaded” Ukraine. He never gave a clear answer.

“Germany doesn’t have much leverage other than announcing that Nord Stream-2 will not be approved. That’s the only political leverage,” said Claudia Kemfert, head of the Energy, Transport and Environment Department at the German Institute for Economic Research.

“Beixi-2” is a pipeline project for Russia to export natural gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea. It is built by companies from Russia, Germany and other countries. Gazprom announced the completion of the project in September last year. Ukraine opposes the “Nord Stream-2” project, claiming that once the pipeline is put into use, Russia may stop supplying gas to Europe via Ukraine, which will affect Ukraine’s energy supply and lose “transit fee” income.

By Astrid Zhang Lehan