Bridget Brink, the United States ambassador to Ukraine, is set to depart her post. She is the first woman to have served in Kyiv, having recently celebrated three years there. Her departure comes at a particularly important time. The upcoming meeting comes as the Trump administration continues to try to broker a peace agreement to halt Ukraine’s nearly seven-year-old war with Russia. As military support becomes more contested and a new diplomatic track emerges, the need for stabilizing the region has grown perilously urgent.
Britain’s new Defence Secretary John Healey will co-chair the 27th Ukraine Defence Contact group. He’ll be accompanied by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in this heavy-lifting role. This is a significant change from the co-chair structure that has existed since the group’s inception where the U.S. Defence Secretary served as co-chair. The move represents a further sign of the deepening engagement of European states in defining both the military and diplomatic response to the conflict.
Now, as global tensions continue to grow, reports are surfacing that suggest Russian military action has increased across Ukraine’s borders. For example, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed earlier this week that its forces seized the village of Zhuravka in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region. Ukrainian officials have so far refused to accept this reality, holding steadfast to their country’s territorial integrity.
Defence Secretary Healey called on the assembled representatives of around 30 countries to move now. He urged them to think about deploying troops to Ukraine as part of any peace deal with Russia in the future. The purpose of such a step would be to strengthen Ukraine’s hand ahead of any possible negotiations. Yet, the deployment of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory is still a sticking point in negotiations with Russia.
After days of serious speculation, the prospect of a European-led force being immediately sent to Ukraine seems to have evaporated. Such a force would more actively prevent any Russian violation of a deal. Most importantly, it will provide critical relief to Ukrainian forces currently fighting on the front lines. The UK government has announced £350 million this year to support Ukraine. At the same time, Norway has increased its funding to this specific effort significantly to support it.
The diplomatic landscape is evolving like never before. Both military and political strategies have quickly been changed to account for the new balance on the ground. We hope that the next summit in July will address these issues and challenges directly. Decisionmakers from every country will consider the costs and benefits of ramping up military presence and assistance to Ukraine.