INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
United States charge d'affaires for Ukraine Kristina Kvien and her team returned to Kyiv Sunday, the embassy tweeted, in a step toward
re-establishing Washington's diplomatic presence there after it was closed days before the Russian invasion."Just arrived in
the day marking the end of World War II on the continent, a senior State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said.Earlier this week Kvien said the United States hopes to return its diplomats to the Ukrainian capital "by the end of the month."US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also championed a return, telling Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit last month
Blinken said they would "conduct diplomatic engagement in advance of the planned resumption of Embassy Kyiv operations," according to a
State Department read-out.The United States closed its embassy in Kyiv on February 14 -- 10 days before Russian President Vladimir Putin
launched his invasion of Ukraine -- and moved its diplomats westward.Kvien and others have returned since on day trips, including to the
rebuffed a Russian offensive.Blinken told Kuleba that the team's return is "a testament to Ukraine's success, Moscow's failure, and
our effective and enduring partnership with the government and people of a sovereign, democratic, and free Ukraine," the State Department
