Five Gulf countries called on their citizens not to travel to Ukraine, and demanded their citizens who are on Ukrainian soil to leave as soon as possible, with the escalation of war risks between Moscow and Kiev.
On Saturday, February 12, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged citizens not to travel to Ukraine at the present time, and called on those there to leave immediately.
The ministry asked Kuwaitis in Ukraine to contact the embassy in Kiev in case of emergency.
In turn, the Saudi embassy in Kiev called on all Saudi citizens in Ukraine to quickly communicate with the embassy to facilitate their immediate departure.
The Saudi embassy, on its account on Twitter, appealed to all citizens to postpone their travel to Ukraine for the time being.
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed to Qatari citizens to “stop traveling to Ukraine.”
It called on Qatari citizens to coordinate with the Department of Consular Affairs and the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Ukraine, if necessary.
In the same context, the Ministry of the UAE Embassy in Kiev called on citizens not to travel to Ukraine, and called on those there to communicate with it.
The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on its citizens not to travel to Ukraine at the present time, and also called on citizens of Ukraine to leave for their own safety.
These calls come with rising Western fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine at any time.
The recent days have witnessed increasing American and Western warnings of the possibility of the Russians invading their neighbour, while Moscow denied its intention to move militarily against Kiev, and said that the West’s statements were mere lies.
The United States, Britain, Japan, Norway and other countries also called on their citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible; in anticipation of the outbreak of military action.
Russia has massed more than 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine, while the United States and European countries continue to provide military support to Kiev, in conjunction with diplomatic attempts to defuse the crisis.
On Thursday, February 10, US President Joe Biden said that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen at any time, and warned of a world war if the Americans and Russians exchanged fire.
