U.S. Senate committee backs Biden nominee to be Ukraine ambassador

The Brink's

18/05/2022 19:50

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Foreign
Relations Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved U.S.
President Joe Biden's nominee to be the next ambassador to
Ukraine, veteran diplomat Bridget Brink, and planned to push for
her quick confirmation by the full Senate.
    Brink is expected to easily win confirmation to a crucial
position that has been vacant for three years.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2X22BB
    The committee held Brink's confirmation hearing on May 10,
just two weeks after Biden sent her name to the Senate. The
quick action underscored the desire from both Biden's Democrats
and Republicans to send an ambassador to support Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as he faces Russia's invasion.
    The Senate is expected later this week to approve nearly $40
billion in military and humanitarian support for Kyiv.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2X82PC
    A Michigan native who speaks Russian, Brink is currently
U.S. ambassador to Slovakia. She has been a career diplomat for
25 years and has worked in Uzbekistan and Georgia as well as in
several senior positions across the State Department and White
House National Security Council.
    Brink was confirmed by unanimous voice vote in 2019, when
former Republican President Donald Trump nominated her for the  
position in Bratislava.         

 (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sandra Maler)
 ((patricia.zengerle@thomsonreuters.com,
www.twitter.com/ReutersZengerle; 001-202-898-8390;))