U.S. ambassador to Ukraine: 'It's going to be a long, grinding, tough war'

Bridget Brink, the new U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, speaks at a press conference on June 2 after presenting her credentials to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a ceremony at St. Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv The U.S. Embassy shut down shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February and reopened a month ago. (Natacha Pisarenko/AP)

KYIV, Ukraine — The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine has gone through a lot recently.

Former president Donald Trump recalled the ambassador in 2019, an episode that became a big part of his first impeachment. This past February, the embassy was abruptly shut down shortly before Russia invaded.

It reopened last month, and the newly arrived ambassador, Bridget Brink, is the first permanent, Senate-confirmed ambassador in three years. She's overseeing a massive U.S. assistance program to Ukraine with a staff that for now is much smaller than what it was before the war.

"I wish I had 48 hours in a day," Brink told NPR in an interview at the huge embassy compound.