US diplomats to return to Kyiv this week as Biden taps new envoy

WASHINGTON

American diplomats will return to Kyiv this week as US President Joe Biden announced his pick to fill the long-vacant ambassador post for Ukraine on Monday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed the flurry of diplomatic activity while addressing reporters in Poland after departing Ukraine in what was the first visit by a senior American official since Russian began its war in February.

The unannounced visit saw Blinken meet in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for roughly three hours after arriving in the Ukrainian capital by train.

Asked about the process of reopening the embassy as diplomats return, Blinken said he expects that "will take place over a couple of weeks."

The comments come as Biden announced career diplomat Bridget Brink as his nominee to be the new US envoy to Kyiv. Brink is currently the US ambassador to the Slovak Republic, and had previously served as a top official at the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

As with all presidential nominees, Brink is subject to Senate confirmation.

Also addressing reporters in Poland, Austin said the US wants "to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine."

"It has already lost a lot of military capability, and a lot of its troops, quite frankly. And we want to see them not have the capability to very quickly reproduce that capability," he said.

Biden has authorized two $800 million military aid packages in the past two weeks to bolster the Ukrainian military, including with heavy artillery systems, drones and ammunition his administration believes will be integral to defending against the upcoming phase of Russia's war.

The US State Department announced a new tranche of $322 million in military financing for Ukraine, bringing total US military assistance since Russian began its war to over $3.7 billion.