‘I cannot stand aside’: former US Ambassador to Ukraine explains her resignation and condemns Trump's approach to Russian aggression
Kyiv • UNN
Bridget Brink stated that she cannot conscientiously implement the policy of the Trump administration, which puts pressure on Ukraine, not on Russia. She emphasized that the only way to protect US interests is to resist autocrats.
Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink stated that she resigned due to the "impossibility to conscientiously implement the state policy" of the Trump administration.
She wrote about this in a column for Detroit Free Press reports UNN.
I have just returned to Michigan after three years of the most difficult work of my life — serving as the US Ambassador to Ukraine — supporting our democratic ally against brutal, unprovoked aggression from russia
The Ambassador noted that she performed her duties under five US presidents, both Republicans and Democrats. Eventually, according to her, this experience convinced her that "the United States is the strongest and greatest country the world has ever known." But Donald Trump's policy, which puts pressure on Ukraine, forces Brink to refuse to perform her duties as ambassador.
I respect the president's right and responsibility to determine foreign policy... The role of the American foreign service is to implement that policy. Unfortunately, the policy since the beginning of the Trump administration has been to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, and not on the aggressor, russia. Thus, I can no longer conscientiously implement the administration's policy and consider it my duty to resign.
Brink stressed that she was forced to do this after three decades of service, because she cannot stand aside while "democracy is being bombed and children are being killed with impunity."
I believe that the only way to protect US interests is to stand up for democracies and resist autocrats. Peace at any price is not peace at all, but appeasement. And history has repeatedly taught us that appeasement does not lead to security, stability or prosperity. It leads to more war and suffering
Earlier, UNN wrote that US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, who completed her mission, recorded a farewell video in which she stated that working as the US Ambassador to Ukraine was an honor of her life.