(Washington) US Chargé d’Affaires Kristina Kvien and diplomats arrived in Kyiv on Sunday to commemorate the 77and anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, announced the United States Embassy in the Ukrainian capital, which is due to reopen soon.
Posted at 12:45 p.m.
“I have just arrived in Kyiv! Happy to be here on this day of victory in Europe. Glory to Ukraine,” the US Embassy tweeted, accompanying its message with a photo of Kristina Kvien.
“Chargé d’Affaires Kristina Kvien and her team have arrived in Kyiv to commemorate this day,” confirmed a senior State Department official in Washington.
“Our return to Kyiv is a testament to Ukraine’s victory, Moscow’s failure, and our effective and enduring partnership with the government and people of a sovereign, democratic and free Ukraine,” he said. He underlines.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken “has redoubled his efforts to ensure that our diplomats return to Kyiv as soon as possible” in “coherence with the security conditions”, added the senior official.
On Sunday, Antony Blinken informed his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kouleba of Kristina Kvien’s visit. Together with the accompanying team, she “will conduct diplomatic work ahead of the planned resumption of embassy activities in Kyiv,” according to a State Department statement.
The United States had decided to move its embassy in Ukraine from Kyiv to Lviv, near the Polish border, on February 14, ten days before the start of the Russian invasion, before evacuating its personnel from the country.
Following a visit to Kyiv on April 24, Antony Blinken and US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin announced the gradual return of an American diplomatic presence in Ukraine, given the improvement in the situation on the ground. , especially in Kyiv and its region.
Mme Kvien returned to Lviv on May 2, and said she hoped to return to Kyiv “by the end of” May.
Joe Biden also named a new US Ambassador to Ukraine, current US Representative to Slovakia Bridget Brink, who has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.