The State Department has issued an advisory on Monday warning American citizens against traveling to Belarus due to the concerning buildup of Russian troops along the Belarus border with Ukraine.
Continuing to warn that Russia could invade Ukraine as soon as this week, the US officials stressed that US citizens in Belarus or considering travel to the country should be aware of the heightened tension in the region and the unpredictability of the situation.
The State Department said in the advisory that potential harassment targeted specifically at foreigners is also possible in Belarus, strongly advising Americans against traveling to Belarus given the heightened volatility of the situation.
The department added that since it is already severely limited due to Belarusian government limitations on US Embassy staffing, the US government may have limited ability to provide US citizens with emergency services in Belarus.
The State Department’s warning came the same day the Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the US Embassy in Kyiv was closing and relocating operations to the city of Lviv, more than 300 miles to the west, due to the dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces
Blinken underscored in a statement that these prudent measures of precaution would no way undermine the US support for or its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
A similar travel advisory was also reissued by the State Department for Moldova, which borders Ukraine to the west, citing Russian military activity around Ukraine as well as the unresolved conflict between the central government and the breakaway region of Transnistria.
It remains to be seen if these travel advisories will be amended in the following days considering the fact that Moscow has initiated on Tuesday partial withdrawal of its troops deployed in Belarus, on the border with Ukraine, after they have finished its role in the joint Russia-Belarus military drills that will end February 20.
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