Ukraine declares state of emergency, urges its citizens to leave Russia
February 23, 2022, 5:14 pm

Ukraine declares state of emergency, urges its citizens to leave Russia

Llviv city in Ukraine/Pixabay

The Gazette reported, citing Reuters, Ukraine declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and told its citizens in Russia to flee, while Moscow began evacuating its Kyiv embassy in the latest ominous signs for Ukrainians who fear an all-out Russian military onslaught.

In addition to the 30-day state of emergency, the Ukrainian's government has announced compulsory military service for all men of fighting age. Ukraine's parliament, cabinet and foreign ministry websites were down. Government websites have experienced several outages in recent weeks, which Kyiv has blamed on cyber attacks.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: "Predicting what might be the next step of Russia, the separatists or the personal decisions of the Russian president -- I cannot say."

Moscow denies planning an invasion and has described warnings as anti-Russian hysteria. But it has also taken no steps to withdraw the troops deployed along Ukraine's frontiers.

What does Putin's recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent states mean?

On Wednesday, it took down flags from its embassy in Kyiv, having ordered its diplomats to evacuate for safety reasons.

Source: gazette

What does Putin's recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent states mean? Lebanon foils three suicide attacks planned by militants linked to IS

Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.