Brink Confirmed as Ukraine Ambassador  05/19 06:10

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate confirmed Bridget Brink late Wednesday as U.S. 
ambassador to Ukraine, filling the post as officials plan to return American 
diplomats to Kyiv during the nation's continuing battle against the Russian 
invasion.

   The veteran foreign service officer, who has spent most of her career in the 
shadow of the former Soviet Union, was nominated to the position last month by 
President Joe Biden. She was confirmed unanimously by the Senate without a 
formal roll call vote.

   American diplomats evacuated Kyiv when the war began three months ago, but 
the U.S. reopened the embassy Wednesday.

   The ambassador's post has been vacant since former President Donald Trump 
abruptly forced out Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch in 2019. She later became a 
key figure in the first impeachment proceedings against Trump.

   Brink had been the ambassador to Slovakia.