The Foreign Affairs Minister says he understands calls for him to expel the Russian Ambassador from Ireland.
There have been demands for Yuri Filatov to be expelled after he made repeated denials that Russia was poised to invade Ukraine.
Minister Simon Coveney says that while he understands the anger and sentiment, he has to think about Irish citizens who are in Russia and Ukraine and keeping some diplomatic channels open.
"We have children being born in Kiev, whose parents are Irish through surrogacy who can't get to those children at the moment.
"I need to ensure that regardless what happens in the coming days and weeks that we have some line of communication with Moscow, in terms of looking after our own people.
"Does that mean that we won't expel diplomats? No it doesn't, and we may well do that."
