Julie Davis, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, is leaving Kyiv. Not the first case of its kind. Her predecessor, Bridget Brink, walked away from the same post a year ago - and from then until now Washington has had no permanent ambassador at one of the most critical points in the world.

The source of the problem is public and unambiguous - Davis is "frustrated with Trump" because of his weakened support for Ukraine. After a 30-year diplomatic career, she is retiring. She had also held accreditation as ambassador to Cyprus.

Brink, her predecessor, went further. She is now running for Congress as a Democrat in Michigan, with open criticism of Trump for "corruption and yielding to Putin". Translated - American foreign service is no longer staffed by neutral officials, but by people who openly speak out against the head of state. That is unprecedented.

The trigger for the first resignation in April 2025 was Trump's verbal showdown with Zelensky in the Oval Office. After it, Trump suspended military aid and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv for several weeks. Since then the State Department has been in damage-control mode, but the damage was already done.

History repeats itself. In 2019 Trump fired Marie Yovanovitch from the post of ambassador to Ukraine, calling her "disloyal". Now even those who were, in theory, supposed to be loyal are walking out. The White House has bypassed the diplomatic channels and since 2025 has been operating through private connections - Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, and close people from its own circle.

For the Balkans, this is a critical signal. No ambassador in Kyiv, no ambassador in Skopje for months, no regular diplomatic channels - American policy in the region depends on the private contacts of three people. When one of them orders pizzeria and brokers a deal, that is the diplomatic map for today. Is that strategy, or just damage waiting to be named?