Ukraine on Friday played down U.S. President Joe Biden's call on Americans to leave immediately, stressing it was not a sign of an imminent Russian "invasion." 

"There is nothing new in this statement. We know the position of the United States, which has already made such statements," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters. "They have already started evacuating some of their embassy staff and family members. This statement is not evidence of some radical change of the situation."

The U.S. in late January had instructed the families of its diplomats to leave Kyiv. 

(With input from AFP)