US ambassador to Ukraine to leave over differences with Trump

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Julie Davis will leave her post in the coming weeks.

The acting chargé d’affaires has grown frustrated with her role amid differences with President Trump over his dwindling support for Ukraine.

Davis notified the State Department of her decision and plans to retire from diplomatic service after three decades.

Her departure follows that of predecessor Bridget Brink, who resigned in April last year for similar reasons.

Brink opposed the pressure Trump placed on Kyiv while letting Moscow off the hook. The last straw was Trump’s verbal attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February 2025. Trump then paused military assistance and intelligence sharing for several weeks.

Davis, accredited as ambassador to Cyprus while serving in Kyiv, felt blindsided after learning through media reports that Trump nominated Arizona businessman John Breslow for the Cyprus post without notifying her.

The U.S. embassy in Kyiv has struggled to retain ambassadors during both of Trump’s terms. In 2019 Trump recalled Marie Yovanovitch, deeming her “disloyal.”

Peace talks have stalled because of Russia’s intransigence and the U.S. war against Iran. Ukrainian intelligence officials say Moscow plans a new summer offensive.

Only 8 percent of Trump’s ambassadorial nominees are career diplomats, down sharply from his first term. Dozens of embassies, including Ukraine, lack Senate-confirmed ambassadors.