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Donald Trump’s acting ambassador to Ukraine will step down from her post and retire after less than a year in the role.
The State Department confirmed on Tuesday that Davis would leave in June before retiring from the department, following reports she was quitting over differences of opinion with Trump.
People familiar with her decision told the Financial Times that Davis, who has served as temporary chargé d’affaires at the embassy since May, had grown frustrated by Washington’s dwindling support for Ukraine as peace talks with Russia have stalled.
Her departure will leave vacant a key diplomatic post as Russia looks to gain ground in the summer. Ukraine is ramping up production of homegrown domestic capabilities, but has warned that shortages of US-supplied air defences “could not be any worse”, with Trump’s attention turned to the crisis in the Middle East.
open image in gallery Julie Davies will step down from her post after less than a year, with peace talks to end the four-year war on ice ( Reuters )
A career member of the US Foreign Service with more than three decades of experience, Davis assumed her duties as charge d'affaires in Ukraine in May 2025 after her predecessor Bridget Brink, also a career diplomat, resigned over her objections to Trump's Ukraine policy.
One unnamed diplomat told the FT that those who advocated for Ukraine within Trump’s state department “get a target on their back”.
The State Department said it was “false” to say that Davis, who is also the ambassador to Cyprus, was leaving over differences with Trump, however.
“Ambassador Davis has been a steadfast proponent of the Trump Administration's efforts to bring about a durable peace between Russia and Ukraine,” department spokesperson Tommy 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,” Pigott added.
Trump has forced a rift between the US and Europe by blaming Ukraine for the lull in ceasefire talks. Kyiv and its allies maintain that Ukraine needs a strong ceasefire, backed by US security guarantees, to ensure Russia cannot invade again.
Russia has stuck to its maximalist demands for territory, including Crimea and the fortified, mineral-rich regions in the east.
open image in gallery Donald Trump met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska last year ( AFP/Getty )
Delegations sat down for US-brokered talks in February aimed at finding agreeable terms to end the war, before the US launched strikes with Israel on Iran, putting diplomacy on ice.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said last week that Ukraine had pushed to restart talks, asking Turkey if it could facilitate a summit with Russia.
The European Union is meanwhile pushing to provide Ukraine with a €90b loan ($106bn) loan to cover most of its expenses for the next two years, using frozen Russian funds as a potential backstop to ensure that Moscow ultimately pays.
The loan was formally approved last Thursday, offering a vital lifeline for Kyiv, which economists had said would have otherwise started to run out of money by June.
Of the total, Ukraine will get 45 billion euros in 2026 and another 45 billion in 2027. Each year, 28 billion euros will be for spending on military needs and 17 billion on general budget needs.