The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine is leaving her post, the State Department announced Thursday, a move that may complicate the already delicate relationship between Washington and Kyiv, which has been strained by President Trump’s efforts to end the war.
“Ambassador Brink is stepping down,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email, referring to the U.S. envoy to Ukraine, Bridget A. Brink. “She’s been the ambassador there for three years — that’s a long time in a war zone.”
The State Department’s chief spokeswoman, Tammy Bruce, later confirmed Ms. Brink’s departure at a daily press briefing, saying, “We wish her well.” She declined to discuss the matter further. Ms. Brink could not be immediately reached for comment.
It was not immediately clear whether Ms. Brink resigned voluntarily, was asked to step down by the new Trump administration, or a combination of both. President Trump has shifted America’s Ukraine policy since taking office, including temporarily cutting off military aid to Kyiv and pressuring it to sign a contentious deal to get a major stake in Ukraine’s minerals and energy projects.
The State Department did not say when exactly Ms. Brink would leave her post or who would succeed her. Amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, the position of U.S. Ambassador in Kyiv has been among the most demanding in the foreign service, including involvement in coordinating the military and financial aid that has formed the backbone of Ukraine’s war effort.
As Ms. Brink’s departure was announced on Thursday evening, a Ukrainian delegation was on its way to Washington to negotiate the minerals deal, which Mr. Trump has portrayed as a way to “recoup” past U.S. aid to Ukraine.
Ms. Brink’s departure comes amid heightened tension between Washington and Kyiv — relations have been the most strained since the war began. In a disastrous Oval Office meeting in February, Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine of showing insufficient gratitude for U.S. help, while several White House officials have echoed Kremlin narratives, angering Ukrainian officials.
Ms. Brink was nominated to the post by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and had been serving in Kyiv since May 2022. She regularly expressed support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia through social media posts and speeches.
She also gained a reputation as a crusader for reforms, pushing the Ukrainian government to combat corruption, among other things — a stance that grated on some Ukrainian government officials who resented what they viewed as intrusive American oversight.
After Mr. Trump took office earlier this year, Ms. Brink was forced to adjust her approach to align with the new White House policy, which adopted a more neutral stance in the war between Ukraine and Russia.
This was perhaps most evident in a social media post she made last week following a Russian missile attack on the central town of Kryvyi Rih that killed 19 people, including nine children. Ms. Brink condemned the attack but failed to specify that Russia had fired the missile. The omission drew sharp criticism from Mr. Zelensky, who argued that silence would embolden Moscow to “continue the war and ignore diplomacy.”
Later, Ms. Brink acknowledged Russia’s role in a post about another missile attack, and she traveled to Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday to pay her respects to the victims of the Russian strike.
