Ukraine’s US charge d’affaires The embassy announced that Kristina Kvien and her colleagues returned to Kyiv on Sunday, a step toward re-establishing Washington’s diplomatic presence there, which had been closed days before the Russian invasion.

“Just arrived in Kyiv! Delighted to be back on Victory in Europe Day. Slava Ukraine!” tweeted the US embassy on Kyiv’s official account.

Kvien and her fellow diplomats went to Kyiv to commemorate 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 US 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 that it will happen “promptly,” the official said.

Blinken on Sunday informed his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, about the Kyiv visit by Kvien and her team. 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 US 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 western city of Lviv.

Western countries are gradually moving to reinstate a diplomatic presence in Kyiv, where Ukrainian forces have rebuffed a Russian offensive.

The team’s return, according to Blinken and Kuleba, 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.”