The US State Department (United States) on Monday intensified its warning to its citizens to leave Moldova and Belarus immediately, due to Russian military activity in the region, where thousands of soldiers gathered to conduct military exercises, according to American newspapers.
The new alert is happening after The United States moved its embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, to the city of Lviv.
Belarus and Russia held military exercises on Thursday with troops, heavy weapons and advanced equipment.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has become increasingly close to Russian President Vladimir Putin after he cracked down on political dissent, triggered a migration crisis in Europe, and faced harsh Western sanctions.
The US State Department had earlier warned US citizens against traveling to Belarus.
The US embassy in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, had already ordered the departure of the American family members on January 31. However, a small group of American diplomats remain in the country.
The US State Department further warned that it was calling for the immediate departure of its citizens in Transnistria, a part of Moldova on Ukraine’s southwestern border.
The warning does not apply to the entire country, but only to Transnistria, an unrecognized breakaway region where Russia is holding its forces against the will of the Moldovan government.
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