US ambassador to Ukraine steps down

Acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Julie Davis will leave Kyiv in June and retire, according to U.S. officials and the State Department. (cbsnews.com) Davis took over as chargé d’affaires on May 5, 2025, after the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv announced she would lead the mission until a president nominated a new ambassador. She had been serving as U.S. ambassador to Cyprus at the same time. (usembassy.gov) (cbsnews.com) The Financial Times first reported that Davis was leaving over differences with President Donald Trump. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott called that claim false and said Davis was retiring after a 30-year Foreign Service career. (usnews.com) (cbsnews.com) Her departure comes barely a year after Bridget Brink, the Senate-confirmed ambassador to Ukraine, stepped down in April 2025 after three years in Kyiv. Brink later said she could no longer carry out the Trump administration’s Ukraine policy “in good faith.” (politico.com) (pbs.org) That makes Davis the second senior U.S. envoy tied to Kyiv to leave since Trump returned to office in January 2025. The turnover has unfolded while the White House has pressed for a negotiated end to the war and shifted key diplomacy to Trump envoys outside the traditional embassy chain. (cbsnews.com) (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) Washington has also stepped back from leading the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, the forum that has coordinated military aid for Kyiv since 2022. Britain and Germany chaired its February and April 2025 meetings instead. (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) (gov.uk) Brink’s resignation had already exposed the policy split. In a May 2025 interview with PBS, she said the administration was putting pressure on “the victim, Ukraine,” rather than on Russia. (pbs.org) For now, the embassy in Kyiv is losing another top diplomat before a permanent ambassador is in place. Davis is set to keep serving until her departure in June. (cbsnews.com)