U.S. State Department building in Washington DCWASHINGTON, Feb. 12 The U.S. does not close its embassy in Kiev, but reduce the number of employees, including by transferring some diplomats to Lviv, and reduce activities to the minimum necessary set of functions, including interaction with the government of Ukraine, a senior State Department official told reporters. The number of employees who remain in the capital is sufficient, he said, to «work closely with the Ukrainian government so that we get the best possible information for our senior leadership and the president» about what is happening in the country. They will also be able to provide «emergency consular services,» the official added. Employees remain in Kiev who will ensure the security of the mission and its connection with Washington. Moscow categorically denies plans attributed to Russia to escalate the situation around Ukraine and constantly states that no one is threatened, and all such statements are used as a pretext to deploy more military NATO equipment near Russian borders. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier, Russia does not create any pretexts for a conflict situation around Ukraine. According to him, Russia does not rule out that the hysteria around Ukraine, hyped by the West, is aimed at covering Kiev's line of sabotaging the Minsk agreements on Donbass. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the information hysteria of the USA and NATO on Ukraine is generously framed by lies and fakes. US fears Russian attack on Ukraine
