Bridget Brink, the former United States Ambassador to Ukraine, confirmed on Friday that she resigned due to disagreements with President Donald Trump’s Ukraine policy, which she described as an “appeasement of Russia.”
In an op-ed published in the Detroit Free Press on May 16, Brink said she could no longer, in good faith, carry out policies that placed pressure on Ukraine — the victim of Russia’s invasion — rather than confronting Moscow.
“I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, and children killed with impunity,” wrote Brink, who served in Kyiv since May 2022.
She called the war in Ukraine “the most systematic, widespread and horrifying aggression in Europe since World War II.”
Brink, a career diplomat under five US presidents, said the Trump administration’s failure to condemn Russia’s actions and the delay in military support undermined US credibility.
“Peace at any price is not peace at all — it is appeasement,” she added.
Relations between the US Embassy and Ukrainian leadership deteriorated last month after Brink’s muted response to a Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, which killed 20 civilians, drew criticism from President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Julie S. Davis was appointed as Chargé d’Affaires to Kyiv following Brink’s resignation in April.
Trump, who returned to office in January 2025, has vowed to end the war swiftly but has yet to broker a ceasefire. His administration has also refrained from imposing new sanctions on Russia.
Brink’s resignation underscores growing diplomatic tension and concern over a shift in US foreign policy under Trump.
