Bridget Ann Brink is an American diplomat serving as the United States Ambassador to Ukraine. In April 2022, she was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the United States ambassador to Ukraine, and presented her credentials in May 2022. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Slovakia from August 20, 2019, until May 18, 2022.

Early life and education

Brink is a native of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, the daughter of John and Gwen Brink. She graduated from East Grand Rapids High School in 1987. Brink earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

and a master's in international relations and political theory from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

.U.S. Department of State, Biography of Bridget A. Brink, accessed Nov. 5, 2019

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Career

After joining the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

in 1996, Brink served as a consular political officer in the U.S. Embassy in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

from 1997 to 1999. She then served as a

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

desk officer until 2002, and as a special assistant for Europe to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs until 2004. From 2005 to 2008, Brink served as political-economic chief in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. Later, Brink became the deputy director for southern European affairs at the U.S. Department of State before joining the

United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Execu ...

as director for the Aegean and

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

, where she helped coordinate U.S. foreign policy and advance U.S. interests with

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, Cyprus, Georgia,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. In 2011, Brink returned to Georgia as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in

. Brink served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent,

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

from 2014 until August 2015, when she became deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. In 2018, ''

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

'' reported that Brink was slated to be nominated as the US ambassador to Georgia, but the

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia ( ka, ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო, ''Kartuli ocneba – Demok’rat’iuli Sakartvelo'') is a social democratic political ...

government rebuffed her due to her alleged predisposition toward former Georgian President and then-opposition leader

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

Ambassador to Slovakia

President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

nominated Brink to become the ambassador to

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. Hearings were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 16, 2019. The committee favorably reported her nomination to the Senate floor on May 22, 2019. Brink was confirmed by the entire Senate via

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

on May 23, 2019. Brink presented her credentials to President Zuzana Čaputová on August 20, 2019.

Ambassador to Ukraine

In February 2022, it was reported that President Joe Biden would nominate Brink as the United States ambassador to Ukraine. On April 25, 2022, Brink was nominated to serve in that position. Hearings took place on May 10, 2022, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On May 18, 2022, the committee reported her favorably to the Senate floor. Her nomination process was fast-tracked and she was unanimously confirmed by the entire Senate via voice vote later that day. She presented her credentials on May 30, 2022, and took office during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Brink has supported

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

throughout the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On July 22, Brink stated that the United States would continue to "support Ukraine for as long as it takes." She made these statements after the White House announced they would send $270 million for military assistance to Ukraine. On July 26, she met with

Jonathan Markovitch Jonathan Benyamin Markovitch ( uk, Йонатан Бін'ямін Маркович; born 21 October 1967) is the chief Rabbi of Kyiv, official representative of Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson and the official Rabbi of the country's ...

, the Chief Rabbi of

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. In December it was reported that she had met with

President Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

in person to securely coordinate his 9.5 hour visit to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on December 23.

Personal life

She is the mother of two boys, and her husband, Nicholas Higgins, also works for the U.S. Foreign Service. Brink speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, Russian,

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brink, Bridget A. 21st-century American diplomats 21st-century American women Alumni of the London School of Economics Ambassadors of the United States to Slovakia Ambassadors of the United States to Ukraine American women ambassadors Date of birth missing (living people) Kenyon College alumni Living people People from East Grand Rapids, Michigan United States Foreign Service personnel Year of birth missing (living people) American women diplomats