The United States has said it expects to return the embassy to Kiev by the end of May, if the situation allows.

“We listen to the security professionals and when they tell us we can come back, we will come back,” said Kristina Kvien, the US’s task force in Ukraine, on Monday.

US embassy staff left Kiev almost two weeks before Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24, transferring several officials and diplomats to Lviv.

All operations were then relocated to neighboring Poland.

Some Western countries have already relocated their embassies to Kiev after Russia withdrew its forces from the region of the Ukrainian capital to focus on eastern and southern Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on February 24 what he calls a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine.

The West has strongly condemned the decision and imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow.

As a result of the war thousands of people have died and millions more have fled Ukraine.