Bridget Brink.Photo: Aziz Karimov/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty
PresidentJoe Bidenon Monday announced his intent to nominate veteran diplomat Bridget Brink to serve as the next ambassador to Ukraine at a time when the European country is in crisisamid the Russian invasion.
Brink currently serves as the U.S. ambassador to Slovakia and has a 25-year career in the foreign service.
Yovanovitch made national headlines when she later testified at Trump’s first impeachment trial on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connectionwith his Ukraine scandal.
Speaking to Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyin a meeting held over the weekend, top U.S. officials expressed their plans to reopen the U.S. embassy in the region.
American diplomats have been working mostly in Poland since the war in Ukraine began, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Sunday that staffers would begin returning to the country in the coming days.
Speaking to reporters following his meeting with Zelenskyy over the weekend, Blinken said part of the administration’s commitment to the besieged nation includes Brink’s nomination, whom Blinken noted was “currently an ambassador, someone I’ve served with for a long time, deeply experienced in the region, who’ll be a very strong representative for the United States in Ukraine.”
The invasion has so far displaced millions and killed or wounded thousands of civilians after Russia’s forces launched their large-scale invasion on Feb. 24, marking the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
More than 5 million have fled the country as refugees — and half are children,according to the United Nations.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
