The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine is leaving her role later this year, the State Department confirmed, creating a vacancy in Kyiv at a tense moment in the relationship between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Julie Davis, the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, will retire from foreign service in June, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on Tuesday.
The Financial Times first reported Davis’ departure, attributing the move to her dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s level of support for Ukraine. Pigott called that characterization “false.”
“Ambassador Davis has been a steadfast proponent of the Trump Administration’s efforts to bring about a durable peace between Russia and Ukraine,” Pigott said. “She will continue to proudly advance President Trump’s policies until she officially departs Kyiv in June 2026 and retires from the Department.”
Trump has consistently sought to pressure Zelenskyy into territorial concessions in an effort to reach an agreement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine — something Zelenskyy has continued to resist. In March, Zelenskyy told Reuters the Trump administration tied its offer of security guarantees to Ukraine to a peace deal that would see Ukraine concede its eastern Donbas region to Russia.
In the same interview, Zelenskyy said he noticed a shift in the Trump administration’s focus once the U.S. war with Iran began in February.
“The Middle East definitely has an impact on President Trump … [he] still chooses a strategy to put more pressure on the Ukrainian side,” Zelenskyy said.
In addition to her role at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, Davis also serves as the ambassador to Cyprus. During the first Trump administration, she served as the U.S. special envoy to Belarus.
