Exclusive: How US ambassador's preplanned trip caused a diplomatic scandal in Kyiv and Brussels

The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on May 28 that the U.S. embassy was the only foreign mission to evacuate Kyiv following Russian threats of a major strike.

"What we heard from Ukraine yesterday was that all the embassies stayed, except one, so that also takes courage from those embassies, but yes, all the Europeans stayed, America left," Kallas told reporters.

The claim was false, soon denied by Washington, and retracted by Brussels, fueling confusion over what actually happened.

As the Kyiv Independent had learned, the remarks were sparked by confusion and misinterpretation and illustrate the fraught relationship between Brussels, Washington, and Kyiv.

People familiar with the matter suggest that Kallas may have been referring to a separate incident on May 24, and that she was misinformed by her Ukrainian counterpart.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had told Kallas during meetings in Cyprus on May 27 that the Americans had evacuated from Kyiv, the two officials have said.

A Ukrainian official later clarified that Sybiha was likely referring to a planned trip by U.S. Charge d'Affaires Julie S. Davis to the western city of Lviv.

"So Sybiha must have been talking about the attack on Saturday night (May 24). The Ukrainian government was told that the Americans were going to Lviv," the Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent.

Another foreign official familiar with the situation told the Kyiv Independent that Davis' trip had been scheduled in advance and was not connected to the Russian attack. There were no plans to evacuate embassy staff because of Moscow's warnings, a senior U.S. State Department official confirmed.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

The remarks about U.S. evacuation came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a May 25 phone call that Moscow planned strikes on Kyiv's so-called "decision-making centers" and advised diplomats to leave the city.

That prompted European embassies to reassert that they would remain, and capitals to summon their Russian ambassadors in protest.

The threats followed one of Russia's largest combined missile and drone attacks on Kyiv days earlier, which killed two people and injured more than 80 others. Strikes were recorded in nearly every district of the capital.

Following the attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, warning about Ukraine's worsening shortage of air defense systems.

"When it comes to air defense against missiles, we rely on our friends," the letter, seen by the Kyiv Independent, reads. "When it comes to defending against ballistic missiles, we rely almost exclusively on the United States."

Since Kallas made her remarks, the EU's diplomatic arm has issued a clarification on the written version, with officials from Brussels, Kyiv, and Washington puzzled by the unintentional mess created by a miscommunication and a lack of mutual understanding between allies.