U.S. Senate confirms Biden nominee to be Ukraine ambassador (updated)

The Brink's

19/05/2022 02:47

(Updates with Senate confirmation)
    By Patricia Zengerle
    WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate unanimously
approved veteran diplomat Bridget Brink on Wednesday to be
ambassador to Ukraine, filling a critical post that has been
vacant for three years as Washington works to increase support
for the government in Kyiv.
    Brink was approved by unanimous voice vote.
    Both President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats and Republicans
had urged Brink's quick confirmation. The Senate Foreign
Relations Committee approved Brink unanimously earlier on
Wednesday, after holding her confirmation hearing just two weeks
after Biden announced the nomination on April 25.
    The quick action underscored the desire from both parties to
send an ambassador to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskiy as he faces Russia's invasion. Brink's Senate
confirmation came on the same day that the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv
reopened after a three-month closure due to Russia's Feb. 24
invasion.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2XA5NM
    The Senate also is expected later this week to approve
nearly $40 billion in military and humanitarian support for
Kyiv, funding that has already passed the House of
Representatives.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2X82PC
    A Michigan native who speaks Russian, Brink is currently
U.S. ambassador to Slovakia. A diplomat for 25 years, she 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 also confirmed by unanimous voice vote in 2019,
when former Republican President Donald Trump nominated her for
the position in Bratislava.  
    There has not been a U.S. ambassador in Kyiv since May 2019,
when Trump abruptly recalled then U.S. ambassador to Ukraine
Marie Yovanovitch. 
    Yovanovitch later testified as Trump faced impeachment on
charges of withholding military aid to put pressure on Zelenskiy
to investigate Biden, then seen as Trump's most likely opponent
in the 2020 election.

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