Ex-ambassador Brink says she quit over Trump’s Ukraine policy, calls it dangerous appeasement

Bridget Brink, who served as US Ambassador to Ukraine until April, said she resigned over US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, which she claimed pressured Ukraine instead of confronting Russia.

In an opinion essay published by Detroit Free Press on 16 May, Brink accused the Trump administration of abandoning America’s role as a defender of democracy.

“I respect the president’s right and responsibility to determine US foreign policy,” she wrote, “but unfortunately, the policy since the beginning of the Trump administration has been to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia.”

Brink said she could no longer execute that policy “in good faith,” and stepped down after nearly 30 years of diplomatic service.

“I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, and children killed with impunity. I believe that the only way to secure US interests is to stand up for democracies and to stand against autocrats,” she wrote.

“Pure evil”: Russia’s mass atrocities

In the essay, Brink recounted her three years in Ukraine and the devastation she witnessed firsthand.

She stated Russia’s full-scale invasion, launched on 24 February 2022, has resulted in “pure evil”: the killing of thousands of civilians, including 700 children; over 150,000 documented war crimes; and the abduction of 20,000 children. She also cited widespread drone and missile attacks on homes, schools, churches, and playgrounds, saying no war in Europe since World War II has been so systematically violent.

“If we allow Putin to redraw borders by force, he won’t stop with Ukraine. Taken at his word, Putin’s ambition is to resurrect an imperial past ― and he can’t do that without threatening the security of our NATO allies,” Brink wrote,

American leadership must stand firm

Brink rejected the idea of peace “at any price,” calling it appeasement. She wrote,

“Peace at any price is not peace at all — it is appeasement. And history has taught us time and again that appeasement does not lead to safety, security or prosperity. It leads to more war and suffering.”

She argued that failing to stop Putin would not only endanger Ukraine but would signal to China and others that redrawing borders by force is acceptable, destabilizing Asia and the world.

Brink stressed the consequences for the US itself, citing a $1.6 trillion economic relationship with Europe supporting 16 million jobs across both continents. She said that “the economic growth, trade, and real jobs that flow from it ― is what is at stake for us in Russia’s war in Ukraine.”

“This is the America I love”

Brink reflected on her family’s wartime history, referencing her grandfather’s WWII service and her grandmother’s sacrifices back home. She invoked their example in calling on the US to stand by its democratic allies.

“The America I love, the one our grandparents served, would never stand by and let such horrors happen. Or give up helping our friends. Or appease the aggressor.”

She concluded that without American leadership, the free world falters, and US success itself is at risk.