YEREVAN, February 14. /ARKA/. The Armenian diplomatic missions in Ukraine work as usual, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vahan Hounanian said today.

"Armenia's diplomatic representatives in Ukraine (embassy in Kiev and consulate general in Odessa) work as usual. They are in constant contact with Armenian citizens, living now in Ukraine who will be given additional instructions if necessary," he said.

The spokesman noted that the ministry in Yerevan is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine.

Earlier, the U.S. State Department has ordered most of its diplomats in Kiev to leave the territory of Ukraine due to the continuing threat of military action by Russia.

TASS quoted a high-ranking US administration official as saying that the evacuation of most of the embassy staff did not mean the suspension or closure of its work. The official stressed that the US embassy in Kiev is suspending most consular services, saying also that a limited amount of emergency consular services will be provided from Lviv.

There have been recent allegations in Western countries, as well as in Kiev, about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitriy Peskov described such information as empty and groundless escalation of tension.

He stressed that Russia posed no threat to anyone. At the same time, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations to justify such statements and warned that attempts to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine by force would have the most serious consequences. -0-