U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the temporary removal from Ukraine of about 150 Florida National Guard troops who are in Ukraine to assist in the training of Ukrainian troops, Reuters reports.

According to two US officials, the decision was taken as a precautionary measure after the State Department ordered some US embassy staff to leave Ukraine. Officials also said that it is still unclear where the troops will be redeployed.

Following the United States, a number of countries also announced the start of the evacuation of their diplomats from Kiev and also issued an appeal to fellow citizens with a request to leave Ukraine, among them Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Belgium and others. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called the evacuation of foreign diplomats from Kiev a mistake.

On February 11, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also promised to withdraw his military instructors from Ukraine "pretty soon," wrote The Guardian.

bbabo.Net