Bridget Brink, the US ambassador to Ukraine, has resigned amid intensifying political differences with the administration of President Donald Trump. About this informs Financial Times.
Brink has been under increasing pressure from senior officials in the new administration, who have questioned her willingness to support the White House’s renewed Ukraine strategy. The policy of the Trump administration is significantly different from the course of Joe Biden, which provided for the provision of billions in military and financial aid to Kyiv, as well as sanctions pressure on Russia.
“Ambassador Brink is stepping down. She was ambassador there for three years — that’s a long time in a war zone.” – said the spokeswoman of the US State Department, Tammy Bruce.
Western diplomats in Kyiv have noted Brink as an important ally of Ukraine, both publicly and in backroom negotiations, since the first weeks of a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. One of the diplomats described her as a “strong personality” and a “serious diplomat”, adding that the pressure from both the American administration and the Ukrainian authorities had a negative effect on her.
On the Ukrainian side, some officials considered Brink to be too critical, especially on the topic of anti-corruption. According to the officials, recently the tone of the ambassador’s messages has noticeably changed, becoming closer to Trump’s position and at the same time more critical of Ukraine’s actions.
An analysis of Brink’s posts on the X social network revealed significant changes in rhetoric since Trump’s inauguration on January 20. In the 75 days before the change of administration, she publicly criticized Russia and its war against Ukraine 53 times. In contrast, in the 75 days since the new president took office, there have been only five mentions of Russia, none of which included accusations of military aggression.
