US Embassy in Kyiv Says It’s Staying Open Despite Russia Warning Diplomats to Leave

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv will remain open, despite warnings from Russia that diplomats and foreign nationals should leave Ukraine before escalating attacks.

“The U.S. Embassy is open,” the mission wrote in a May 28 post on X. “There are no changes to our operations, and reports otherwise are false.”

It added that the U.S. State Department “has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans and regularly reviews the security posture of Embassy Kyiv.”

“We reiterate our message that Americans should not travel to Ukraine for any reason due to the armed conflict,” it said.

The remarks follow earlier claims from a European Union diplomat that U.S. officials had left the mission in Kyiv—comments which have since been corrected.

Kaja Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, told reporters on May 28 that Ukraine had informed them that “all the embassies stayed except one.”

“That also takes courage from those embassies. But yes, all the Europeans stayed. America left,” she said.

The official transcript of the remarks has since been corrected to reflect that “all the embassies stayed,” with a note stating that comments had been “updated with a correction with regard to the diplomatic presence in Kyiv.”

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhy denied reports that U.S. diplomats had left, according to Ukraine’s Interfax news agency.

“Reports of the U.S. Embassy’s departure do not correspond to reality,” Tykhy said in response to journalists’ questions.

Russia Threatens Further Strikes

Earlier this week, Russia advised foreign nationals to leave Ukraine, as it threatened further strikes on Kyiv.

Moscow said it was preparing to launch the strikes in retaliation for a Ukrainian drone attack on a university in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Ukraine of committing “crimes against our people” and showing a “rude disdain for the norms of international humanitarian law” by “deliberately” attacking civilians.

It said that the Russian military was beginning to launch “consistent and systemic strikes” at Ukraine’s defense industry facilities, especially those that design, manufacture, and program drones.

“Due to the fact that the above-mentioned facilities are scattered across Kyiv, we are notifying foreign citizens, including the personnel of diplomatic missions and international organizations, of the need to leave the city as soon as possible,” the ministry added, urging residents of Kyiv not to approach military and administrative infrastructure.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the statement “nothing short of shameless blackmail,” saying Moscow was admitting its shelling was aimed at intimidating the foreign diplomatic corps.

The exchange between Moscow and Kyiv followed a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital on May 24 that used a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile.

US Seeks Peaceful End to Conflict

The United States has said it remains committed to mediating negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in order to secure a peace deal.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States “stands ready and prepared to help do whatever we can to help facilitate the end of this war, and hopefully the opportunity will present itself at some point.”

Rubio said on May 22 that, though there are no talks at the moment, he hoped the situation would change because the war “can only end with a negotiated settlement.”

“It will not end with a military victory by one side or the other, at least from a traditional standpoint of how military victories are defined,” he added.

The Russia–Ukraine war is now in its fifth year.

Guy Birchall contributed to this report.