Malaysians in Ukraine are safe - PM

SHAH ALAM - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob confirmed that 11 Malaysians in Ukraine are safe and the government is in the process of evacuating them from the country.

He said out of the 11, eight of them were in Kyiv while the other three were outside of the region.

“We have reached out to them and the evacuation process has also been done.

“They are safe. The safety of Malaysians is the government’s top priority,” he said in a press conference at the end of his two-day official visit to Cambodia on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday was reported to have ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

According to international media reports, Putin said the goal is “to protect people”.

Ismail Sabri said since the safety of the people has always been a priority, the government took immediate action even though the situation in Kyiv was still under control as of Thursday.

Meanwhile, he said, so far there was no consensus between Asean countries on the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

However, he said Malaysia has agreed that Asean as an independent nation would not interfere in the affairs of other countries.

“Asean chairman who is also Cambodia’s Prime Minister, Hun Sen also agreed that we will not be making any statements unless the Asean countries hold discussions and decide by consensus.

“As long as there is no decision by consensus, we will not make any statements on behalf of Asean,” he said.

He added that so far Asean is still a safe zone.