Joseph biden, Former Vice President of the United States

Washington, Feb 13 The US State Department has ordered most of its direct hire employees at the Embassy in Kiev to evacuate, suspending the regular consular services, "due to the continued threat of Russian military action".In an updated travel advisory issued on Saturday, the State Department said passport, visa and other routine consular services will be suspended starting from Sunday, but the US will maintain a small consular presence in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv to handle emergencies, reports Xinhua news agency.The update came two days after Washington urged all US citizens to leave Ukraine immediately.US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday at the White House that American nationals should evacuate within 48 hours, citing unspecified intelligence purporting a Russian invasion of Ukraine at any moment.The State Department has been told in recent days that a "couple thousand" Americans are still in Ukraine, a "substantial number" of whom do not want to leave, a senior State Department official said during a call with reporters on Saturday.On Saturday evening, US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed situation in Ukraine and related security issues in a phone call that lasted for about an hour.The White House said Biden made it clear to Putin "while the US remains prepared to engage in diplomacy", it is "equally prepared for other scenarios".Kremlin aide Yuri Ushako said the two leaders have agreed to continue contacts and that Russia will soon submit its response to the US and NATO on security guarantees.Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over the phone, during which the top American diplomat reiterated "Russian aggression" would be met with a resolute and massive response.On his part, Lavrov "stressed that the propaganda campaign launched by the US and its allies regarding 'Russian aggression' against Ukraine pursues provocative goals, encouraging the authorities in Kiev to sabotage the Minsk agreements and harmful attempts to resolve the 'Donbas problem' by force", the Russian Foreign Ministry said.US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also held a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoigu, on Saturday.Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Joseph BidenFOLLOW

Joseph biden, Latest News

The Taliban on Sunday reacted to US president Joe Biden's decision to split USD 7 billion frozen assets of Afghanistan between 9/11 victims and humanitarian relief to Kabul. ...

Kabul, Feb 14 Deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government Inamullah Samangani on Sunday criticized Washington's "unfair" decision to ... ...

US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis around Ukraine during a phone conversation on Sunday, the White House said. ...

US President Joe Biden made clear his stance over the ongoing tension between Ukraine and Russia, and said that if Moscow undertook a further invasion of Kiev, Washington along with its allies will respond "decisively" and impose swift and severe cos ...

Turkey's foreign ministry on Saturday advised its citizens to avoid traveling to eastern Ukraine amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. ...

New Delhi, Feb 13 Pakistan has questioned the US' decision of setting aside half of the Afghan assets ... ...

Kabul, Feb 13 The Afghan central bank on Sunday called for the reversal of the US government's decision ... ...

Washington, Feb 13 The US State Department has ordered most of its direct hire employees at the Embassy ... ...