President Joe Biden's candidate for US Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, during her confirmation hearing said she does not know when the US embassy will return to Kyiv.
Last week, US Charge d'Affaires Kristina Kvien said the Biden administration hopes conditions will permit the embassy, which temporarily shut down and moved to Lviv in mid-February, to return to Kyiv by end of May.
"I do not know exactly how fast we will be able to do this process, but I know we are trying to do it as fast as possible," Brink said during a hearing at the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a Sunday phone call of a recent visit to Kyiv by US diplomats ahead of the US embassy reopening, according to the State Department.
Brink expressed the hope to start her work, if confirmed, in the Ukrainian capital and noted that Kvien is laying the groundwork to return to the embassy.
"We will have to look at the security situation, but I have a great confidence in our security experts, including those on the ground, to give us advice that allows us to continue to advance our strategic interests, which means being present to work with the Ukrainians, work with other embassies, and also coordinate back with Washington from Kyiv," she said.
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. Many countries began evacuating or relocating their embassies to the western parts of Ukraine even before the Russian advance.
( With inputs from ANI )
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