The German Foreign Ministry is preparing a plan to evacuate families of its embassy staff in Kyiv, while similar actions are being taken by other Western governments, as BILD newspaper reports.

The US has already moved to evacuate its Embassy staff, amid rising tensions with Russia which has amassed thousands of troops its borders with Ukraine.

Similar actions are being taken by other Western governments, while, according to US media, the families of the employees at the US embassy in Kyiv have already been instructed to start their departure from Monday.

The German government, however, continues to reject Ukraine’s request for arms. “The seriousness of the situation requires an immediate review and a change of course by the ruling coalition on the issue of arms deliveries to Ukraine,” said Ukrainian Ambassador to Berlin Andriy Melnyk, only to receive a response from German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht who in an interview with Welt am Sonntag stated that “arms deliveries would not help at this time – this is the consensus in the federal government”.