Veteran diplomat Bridget A. Brink is President Biden’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (sk.usembassy.gov)

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

WASHINGTON   DC   –    President Biden Monday announced his intention to nominate veteran U.S. diplomat Bridget A. Brink to serve as his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine.  The U.S. diplomatic post has remained vacant since 2019, when former President Donald Trump removed Marie Yovanovitch from her role.   Brink, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as the U.S. Ambassador to the Slovak Republic.  Prior to that, she served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, with responsibility for issues related to Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. She also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Tbilisi, Georgia. Brink spent her twenty-five-year career in the Foreign Service focused on advancing U.S. policy in Europe and Eurasia, the White House said in a statement. 

The State Department said that, if confirmed, Ambassador Brink will lead America’s diplomatic mission in Ukraine “with dedication and distinction.”   Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin visited Kyiv, Ukraine Sunday “to demonstrate the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in their struggle against Russian aggression,”  Ned Price, U.S. Department of State spokesperson, said.  

Brink served as the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia from 2011 to 2014, then in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for a year.  President Trump nominated Brink as ambassador to Slovakia in 2019, which the Senate confirmed to the post.   At her swearing in  as Ambassador in Slovakia on August 15, 2019, Brink stated:

“The Transatlantic bond runs through my entire personal and professional life.  I remember clearly as a student in London that day in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell.  Soon after, the Velvet Revolution began and led to the formation of the Slovak Republic. In the three decades since, the United States has been proud to support Slovakia’s transition to a NATO Ally. Slovakia plays an important role in ensuring that NATO remains the lynchpin of Transatlantic security and prosperity.  Its location on NATO’s Eastern Flank make it an indispensable piece of our collective defense.”

Originally from Michigan, Brink holds Master’s degrees in International Relations and Political Theory from the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Kenyon College. She speaks Russian and has studied Slovak, Serbian, Georgian, and French.