Russia rejects 'freeze' on Ukraine conflict as US embassy in Kyiv closes amid airstrike warning

Reaffirming its stance, Russia on Wednesday said that a “freeze” on the conflict in Ukraine along the existing frontlines would be unacceptable to the Russian Federation.

This comes after the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs on Wednesday announced that the US embassy in Kyiv has received “specific information” about a potential significant air attack and therefore would be closed.

When Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was asked about the US embassy closing in Kyiv during his daily press briefing, he declined to comment but said that that Russia believes that the outgoing Joe Biden administration had shown that it is fully committed to continuing the war in Ukraine and is doing everything possible to achieve that.

Taking to X, US Department of State Consular Affairs had earlier posted, “The US embassy in Kyiv has received specific information of a potential significant air attack on Wednesday and will be closed.”

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According to The Guardian report, the US embassy received the information of the potential attack on November 20.

It recommended US citizens to be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.

Further to its post on X, the US Department of State Consular Affairs published a notice on the embassy website saying the closure was “out of an abundance of caution”.

The warning comes a day after Ukraine used US-made ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia after the outgoing Biden administration lifted restrictions on Ukraine’s use of the ATACMS on the war’s 1,000th day.

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On Sunday, US President Joe Biden authorised the use of US-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike Russian targets, aiming to help Kyiv defend itself while also trying to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

After reports of approval from Biden came in, Zelenskyy said that strikes are not carried out with words and neither are such things announced. “Missiles will speak for themselves,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in response, approved the revisions to Moscow’s nuclear doctrine. The new policy expands the scope of when Russia can use nuclear weapons.

Putin-approved policy also allows the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation against any significant conventional assault on Russia, including drone attacks.

For months, Moscow has been warning the West that if Washington allows Ukraine to fire US, British and French missiles into Russia, it would consider those NATO members to be directly involved in the war in Ukraine.

With inputs from agencies