HomeDipNote...Doubling Down on Our Commitment to Ukraine

# 									Doubling Down on Our Commitment to Ukraine							

DipNote

Bridget A. Brink

United States Ambassador to Ukraine

March 1, 2024

On May 29, 2022, I arrived in Kyiv, after a 12-hour drive in armored vehicles from Poland amid ongoing airstrikes across Ukraine. There were few people on the streets, we went through many checkpoints, especially as we came into the capital. 

Over the first days and weeks, I saw the destruction Russia brought firsthand: Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka.   This past weekend, we marked two years of Russia’s all-out war on the Ukrainian people. 

The initial skeletal Embassy crew I arrived with has grown to allow us to do the diplomatic and development work necessary for Ukraine to win. And while Ukraine has defended itself valiantly against incredible odds, the threat of Russia remains no less real today. 

Amid hundreds of headlines, one can lose track of what Ukrainians are fighting for, which is Ukraine’s very existence in the largest war in Europe since World War II. It is hard to grapple with the fact that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, thousands of soldiers and civilians have lost their lives in the fight for Ukraine’s freedom and sovereignty. Five hundred children have been killed since February 24, 2022 alone. The UN reports 14 million Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes. 

Although Ukraine’s fight can seem overwhelming, the stakes could not be higher: a Europe whole, free, and at peace. This is what hangs in the balance. My team and I go to work each day convinced that the United States can and must help Ukraine defeat Russia to ensure our own national security. 

Ukraine continues its fight for the values we share – democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Although tough days lie ahead, we derive inspiration and hope from what Ukrainians, with support from the U.S. and over 50 partner nations, have accomplished. We witness the generosity and kindness of American citizens and Europeans who continue to send food, medicine, and emergency equipment to Ukrainian communities, who take in displaced families, and who offer treatment to wounded soldiers. We are grateful to our incredible Ukrainian colleagues who work alongside us in the Embassy  for their dedication to our diplomatic mission.  The courage and resolve they show every day as they balance service with the demands of family and life in a country at war reminds why we are here.

In December 2023, President Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “I will not walk away from Ukraine, and neither will the American people.” As we mark two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is time to double down on that commitment. 

Ukrainian victory is good for the world, and it is good for us.

It means a global food system made more stable with Ukrainian grain, a Black Sea corridor open for the world to ship and trade, and a strong and battle-tested democratic ally that will make nations around it safer and more secure. 

This is our leadership moment, and it is worth the fight. 

## Reinvigorating the World’s Attention

The two years of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine have been brutal. But as President Biden said: “History is watching. Failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten.” 

The power of our effort is in our unity. Under the Biden Administration, we have united Europe, leveraged the power of our partners, and strengthened and expanded NATO. 

## Re-instilling Confidence in Ukraine

Endless cycles of speculation about whether Ukraine is winning or losing obscures the fact that Ukraine has achieved extraordinary success. 

With our support, and that of Ukraine’s allies and partners, Ukraine has not only survived Russia’s brutal onslaught and recaptured 50 percent of its territory taken by Russia since February 2022, Ukraine also has eliminated Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea by destroying 30 percent of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and opened the Black Sea Corridor so that almost 900 ships and 26 million tons of cargo can reach global markets. 

Ukraine’s armed forces have integrated new weapons systems, like Patriots, to protect cities, saving lives and billions of dollars in damages. The $44.2 billion in military aid and over $74.6 billion in overall U.S. assistance has been matched by our European allies, with another $50 billion tranche from the EU on the way.

## Responding to the Russian Threat

After two years of Russia’s full-scale war, authoritarians around the world are watching how the United States and our allies respond. Beyond the battlefield, we are taking concrete steps to constrain the Kremlin’s ability to continue its war and threaten others. 

We and our partners have announced the world’s most sweeping and severe set of sanctions ever imposed. Since February 2022, the Departments of State and Treasury have designated over 4,000 entities and individuals in response to the Kremlin’s war effort. 

Together with our NATO Allies, we have expanded our participation in NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence, adding battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia in addition to the battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. And we have welcomedFinland as a NATO Ally and continue to work towards Sweden’s accession.  

## Holding Russia Accountable for Atrocities

Members of Russia’s forces have systematically committed torture, rape, and have forcibly transferred or deported Ukrainian civilians in violation of international law.

The images of death and destruction from Bucha, Irpin, and Mariupol shocked the world and demonstrated that the Kremlin’s brutality has no limits. Its continued destruction of civilian infrastructure and cultural sites, detention of tens of thousands of civilians, and forcible relocation of thousands of children are ongoing horrors of this war. 

We will hold Russia and its forces to account in cooperation with allies, partners, international organizations, and civil society. This past week, we announced our second tranche of visa restrictions against those involved in human rights abuses in connection with the transfer, deportation, and confinement of Ukraine’s children. 

We continue to provide funding and assistance to organizations that are collecting the evidence and building the capacity and systems to pursue justice.  

## What’s Next

After two years, it is clearer than ever that Russia’s war against Ukraine presents the gravest challenge to the international order since the Nazi and Imperial Japanese Axis in World War II. Ukraine has risen to this challenge with courage and determination. And the United States, along with a coalition of allies and partners, has rallied the world to support Ukraine. 

But this fight continues. We must not back down, nor waver in the face of this challenge. We must continue to show U.S. global leadership. Above all, we must remember that Ukrainians are not only fighting for their lives, homes, and freedoms and security, they are defending ours. 

Slava Ukraini.

*About the author: Bridget A. Brink is the United States Ambassador to Ukraine.*

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DipNoteHuman Rights and DemocracyUkraine

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