Biden Makes Bridget Brink as New U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine

Biden Makes Bridget Brink as New U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. 

Washington, DC – The White House said Monday that President Biden intends to nominate veteran diplomat Bridget Brink to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

The Senate must approve her nomination. If confirmed, Brink, the current U.S. ambassador to Slovakia, would become the top American diplomat in Ukraine as the country fights back against Russia’s incursion. 

Brink is a career foreign service officer who has worked in Uzbekistan, Georgia, Cyprus, and Serbia and the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs as the deputy assistant secretary. 

She also worked for the National Security Council of the White House.

MORE: NATO warships dock at Finnish port for training exercises.

After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the formal announcement of Brink as Mr. Biden’s choice for U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, the two are the highest-ranking U.S. officials to visit the country’s capital city. 

Blinken informed Zelenskyy about Mr. Biden’s choice of Brink as ambassador during the visit.

The U.S. embassy in Ukraine is currently located in Kyiv. 

Still, the State Department relocated embassy activities to Lviv in mid-February due to Russia’s force buildup around Ukraine’s borders. 

After meeting with Zelenskyy, Blinken told reporters that U.S. ambassadors would begin returning to Poland this week. 

The State Department will look into how to reestablish the embassy in Kyiv.

“We’re doing it intentionally, methodically, and with the protection of our staff uppermost in mind, but we’re doing it,” Blinken explained.