UK tells British nationals in Ukraine not to expect military evacuation

LONDON (Reuters) -British nationals who choose to stay in Ukraine should not expect a military evacuation if conflict with Russia breaks out, junior defence minister James Heappey told Sky News on Saturday.

"British nationals should leave Ukraine immediately by any means possible and they should not expect, as they saw in the summer with Afghanistan, that there would be any possibility of a military evacuation," he said.

On Friday the UK government advised British nationals to leave Ukraine while commercial means were still available and advised against all further travel to the country.

Britain is, however, maintaining a diplomatic presence in Ukraine.

"I am staying in Kyiv and continue to work there with a core team. The embassy remains operational," the British ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, said on Twitter.

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Friday British troops sent to Ukraine for training purposes would return soon.

"There will be no British troops in Ukraine if there is any conflict with Russia," said Heappey.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were set to speak on Saturday as Western nations warned that a war in Ukraine could ignite at any moment.

(Reporting by James DaveyEditing by Kirsten Donovan and Frances Kerry)