The US hopes its diplomats will be able to return to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, where Washington closed its embassy days before the Russian invasion, “by the end of the month”, embassy charge d’affaires Kristina Kvien said Monday.
“We very much hope that conditions will permit us to go back to Kyiv by the end of the month,” Kvien said at a press conference in the western city of Lviv.
The US closed its embassy in Kyiv on February 14, ten days before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, and moved its diplomats westwards.
Kvien said she and her staff were “working day and night in Poland” to “help Ukraine win this war.
“She was in Ukraine on a “day trip” and said US diplomats will “continue to do day trips for the next week or two” to Ukraine.
Western countries are progressively reestablishing diplomatic ties with Kyiv, where Ukrainian military have successfully repelled a Russian onslaught.
Kvien, speaking with Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy, claimed that nine weeks into the conflict, it was evident that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “made a mistake” in Ukraine.
The news came after US Vice President Joe Biden presented a $33 billion aid plan for Ukraine and after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
