The US Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, has resigned due to increasing political differences with President Donald Trump's administration, sources familiar with her decision reported.
Source: Financial Times
According to FT, Brink faced mounting pressure from senior officials in the Trump administration who questioned her willingness to support the new White House strategy on Ukraine.
Trump's policy significantly differs from that of the previous Biden administration, which provided Kyiv with billions in military and financial assistance and imposed sanctions on Russia.
“Ambassador Brink is stepping down. She has served there for three years – a considerable time in a conflict zone,” said State Department spokesperson Tami Bruce.
Western diplomats in Kyiv described Brink as an important defender of Ukraine both publicly and privately from the early weeks of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. One described her as a “strong personality” and a “serious diplomat,” adding that the pressure from both Trump’s and Zelensky’s administrations had adversely affected her.
Details: Ukrainian officials considered the ambassador too critical of them, particularly regarding the country's anti-corruption efforts.
Officials indicated noticeable changes in her messaging recently, which they believed aligned more closely with Trump's position and increasingly critical of Ukraine.
An analysis of Brink's posts on social media platform X, conducted by the Financial Times, revealed significant changes in her rhetoric after Trump’s inauguration on January 20. In the 75 days before the new president took office, she criticized Russia and the war in Ukraine 53 times, while in the 75 days following, she published only five posts mentioning Russia, none of which blamed it for military actions.
Background: Several media outlets reported earlier on Thursday about the possible resignation of the US ambassador to Ukraine, citing sources.
Later, the US State Department confirmed Brink's resignation, explaining it was due to the completion of her three-year term amidst the ongoing war.
Recently, Brink faced criticism from Volodymyr Zelensky after she failed to mention Russia in her post about the Russian strike on Kryvyi Rih on April 4.