WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday named a career diplomat as its top envoy in Ukraine, putting another seasoned hand in charge after turbulence in the wartime relationship.
The State Department said that Julie Davis, a Russian speaker who has spent much of her career in the former Soviet Union, will be charge d’affaires in Kyiv, the top embassy position pending the nomination and Senate confirmation of an ambassador.
Ambassador Bridget Brink, also a career diplomat, stepped down last month. She had spent been stationed in Kyiv for three years, a grueling posting during Russia’s invasion.
She was also caught in an increasingly awkward situation after robustly supporting Ukraine under former president Joe Biden and then representing Trump as he dressed down Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an Oval Office meeting.
The appointment of Davis was announced a day after Ukraine and the United States signed a minerals deal, seen by Kyiv as a new way to ensure a US commitment even after Trump opposes military assistance and presses a war settlement that many Ukrainians see as favorable to Russia.
“Ambassador Davis is the president and secretary’s choice,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters, after calling the minerals deal a “significant milestone.”
“President Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine,” Bruce said.
Davis serves as the US ambassador to Cyprus, a position she will continue concurrently with her new role in Kyiv.
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US names new top diplomat in Ukraine
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US names new top diplomat in Ukraine
- Julie Davis, a Russian speaker who has spent much of her career in the former Soviet Union, will be charge d’affaires in Kyiv
Trump to launch Board of Peace that some fear rivals UN
- US president sees board as going beyond Gaza to address global challenges
- 35 countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye have committed; Russia considering
DAVOS, Switzerland: US President Donald Trump will on Thursday launch his Board of Peace, originally envisaged to help end the Gaza war but which he now sees having a wider role that Europe and some others fear will rival or undermine the United Nations.
Trump, who will chair the board, has invited dozens of other world leaders to join it and sees the grouping addressing other global challenges beyond Gaza, though he does not intend it as a replacement for the United Nations, he has said.
Some traditional US allies have balked at joining the board, which Trump says permanent members must help fund with a payment of $1 billion each, either responding cautiously or declining the invitation.
No other permanent member of the UN Security Council — the five nations with the most say over international law since the end of World War Two — except the US has yet committed to join.
Russia said late on Wednesday it was studying the proposal after Trump said it would join. France has declined. Britain said on Thursday it was not joining at present. China has not yet said whether it will join.
However, around 35 countries have committed to join including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkiye and Belarus.
The signing ceremony will be held in Davos, Switzerland, where the annual World Economic Forum bringing together global political and business leaders is taking place.
Sputtering Gaza ceasefire
The board’s charter will task it with promoting peace around the world, a copy seen by Reuters showed, and Trump has already named other senior US officials to join it, as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The ceasefire in Gaza, agreed in October, has sputtered for months with Israel and Hamas trading blame for repeated bursts of violence in which several Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.
Both sides accuse each other of further violations, with Israel saying Hamas has procrastinated on returning a final body of a dead hostage and Hamas saying Israel has continued to curb aid into Gaza despite an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Each side rejects the other’s accusations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation by Trump to join the board, the Israeli leader’s office says. Palestinian factions have endorsed Trump’s plan and given backing to a transitional Palestinian committee meant to administer the Gaza Strip with oversight by the board.
Trump has been characteristically bold in his comments on Gaza, saying the ceasefire amounts to “peace in the Middle East.”
Even as the first phase of the truce stumbles, its next stage must address much tougher long-term issues that have bedeviled earlier negotiations, including Hamas disarmament, security control in Gaza and eventual Israeli withdrawal.
On Wednesday in Davos, Trump met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, whose country played a major role in Gaza truce mediation talks, and they discussed the board.
Trump, who will chair the board, has invited dozens of other world leaders to join it and sees the grouping addressing other global challenges beyond Gaza, though he does not intend it as a replacement for the United Nations, he has said.
Some traditional US allies have balked at joining the board, which Trump says permanent members must help fund with a payment of $1 billion each, either responding cautiously or declining the invitation.
No other permanent member of the UN Security Council — the five nations with the most say over international law since the end of World War Two — except the US has yet committed to join.
Russia said late on Wednesday it was studying the proposal after Trump said it would join. France has declined. Britain said on Thursday it was not joining at present. China has not yet said whether it will join.
However, around 35 countries have committed to join including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkiye and Belarus.
The signing ceremony will be held in Davos, Switzerland, where the annual World Economic Forum bringing together global political and business leaders is taking place.
Sputtering Gaza ceasefire
The board’s charter will task it with promoting peace around the world, a copy seen by Reuters showed, and Trump has already named other senior US officials to join it, as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The ceasefire in Gaza, agreed in October, has sputtered for months with Israel and Hamas trading blame for repeated bursts of violence in which several Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.
Both sides accuse each other of further violations, with Israel saying Hamas has procrastinated on returning a final body of a dead hostage and Hamas saying Israel has continued to curb aid into Gaza despite an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Each side rejects the other’s accusations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation by Trump to join the board, the Israeli leader’s office says. Palestinian factions have endorsed Trump’s plan and given backing to a transitional Palestinian committee meant to administer the Gaza Strip with oversight by the board.
Trump has been characteristically bold in his comments on Gaza, saying the ceasefire amounts to “peace in the Middle East.”
Even as the first phase of the truce stumbles, its next stage must address much tougher long-term issues that have bedeviled earlier negotiations, including Hamas disarmament, security control in Gaza and eventual Israeli withdrawal.
On Wednesday in Davos, Trump met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, whose country played a major role in Gaza truce mediation talks, and they discussed the board.
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