“Ambassador Brink is stepping down. She’s been the ambassador there for three years – that’s a long time in a war zone,” a State Department spokesperson said in an e-mailed response.

It is unclear who will take over as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter said Chris Smith, the deputy assistant secretary for Eastern Europe and policy and regional affairs in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, is being considered. Smith previously served as deputy chief of mission in the U.S. embassy in Kyiv from 2022 to 2023.