KYIV, Feb. 11 (AP) - Ukraine has evacuated all staff except the charge d'affairs from its embassy in Baghdad in expectation of war, an official said Tuesday.
day.
Charge d’affairs Valentyn Novikov is the only staff member who has not evacuated, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
President Leonid Kuchma summoned Novikov and other top diplomats from the region to Kyiv for meetings Tuesday to discuss escalating tensions over Iraq and plans to deepen trade ties with Arab countries in the Persian Gulf area. Novikov was to return to Baghdad after the meetings.
Some 231 Ukrainians remain in Iraq, and the government has not recommended they leave, the Interfax news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Serhy Borodenkov as saying.
Ukraine has worked out a joint plan with Russia to evacuate citizens in the event of war.
