US top diplomat Kristina Kvien returns to Kyiv with her team, signals reopening of Embassy

US top diplomat to Ukraine Kristina Kvien returned to Kyiv on Sunday as Russian troops retreated from the capital, allowing businesses to function. She was accompanied by a team of diplomats and security officials for the visit aimed at reestablishing the US presence in capital Kyiv. In the wake of Russia’s “unprovoked” invasion of the eastern European country, the Biden administration had shut down diplomatic services in Kyiv and relocated the embassy to the western city of Lviv.

During a visit to Ukraine last month, US State Secretary Antony Blinken announced that the US embassy in Kyiv would soon be reopened with diplomats returning back as early as in the first week of May. However, no specific timeline was announced. Commenting on Kvien's return to the city, a senior White House official said that the visit was aimed at commemorating the Victory Day and did not indicate the resumption of the American diplomatic office in the Ukrainian capital. 

However, Blinken spoke to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday and informed him that a small group led by Charge d'Affaires Kvien "travelled to Kyiv to conduct diplomatic engagement in advance of the planned resumption of Embassy Kyiv operations," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

Jill Biden visits Ukraine

This comes a day after the first lady of the United States, Jill Biden, made a surprise visit to the war-torn country. She also met with Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska, and held a Mother's Day meeting. Biden reached Ukraine under a veil of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to do so since the onset of war in late February. "I wanted to come on Mother’s Day. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine," Biden said, as per the Associated Press (AP).

The US first lady travelled by car to Uzhhorod, which is roughly a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian settlement on the Ukrainian border. She was in Ukraine for around two hours. “We understand what it takes for the US first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day -- even today," Zelenska said, thanking her US counterpart.

(Image: AP)