amna: Today's prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine was the largest since the war's onset but skepticism of a lasting truce and president trump's peacemaking remain.

A former ambassador to the Ukraine resigned in mid April faulting though trump administration's Ukraine policy.

A diplomat for nearly three decades she served as ambassador to Ukraine under president Biden and trump starting shortly after Moscow's invasion three years ago.

She is now considering a congressional run as a Democrat representing Michigan and she joined me yesterday to discuss her resignation and the war.

All come to the news hour.

In your op-ed for the Detroit free press you explained why you chose to resign and you wrote this.

I can no longer in good faith carry out the administration's policy.

What specifically pushed you to make this decision?

>> Maybe I could step back a moment to talk about the context but over three years of leading my team in Kyiv, I was there as Russia launched thousands of missiles and drones that killed men, women and children in their sleep.

They tried to take out the energy grid and the power to take out the heat and lights for millions of people and created - - and committed were crimes of atrocity that we haven't seen since World War II with devastating effects.

To see it firsthand left a big impression on me.

I agree the war needs to end but the policy of the trump administration is to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine rather than the aggressor, Russia.

And peace at any price is not peace but appeasement.

We know that appeasement only leads to more war.

The specific thing that started my questioning, could I remain implementing the president's policy -- it was not a quick decision.

It was one I took over the first three months of the administration to make.

The first sign was an oval office meeting which was horrifying to see and also do see that we were not standing up with our democratic partners and allies.

Amna: That was between president trump and president zelenskyy in February.

President trump break -- blamed president zelenskyy for the war.

After that I should point out that you had reposted in Ukrainian something that secretary Rubio had posted thanking the president for standing up for America in a way that other presidents have not done.

Why repost that?

You faced backlash from Ukrainians for that.

>> At the time I was the president's representative representing his policy.

I reposted secretary Rubio's tweet which is something we routinely use, using the talking points of the white house and this is part of our professional youth those.

- - Ehtos.

-- Ethos.

But it was a sign I did not think I would be able to remain in the position.

There were other things -- we withdrew our security ended -- and intelligence assistance for a period of time and I also did not think that was the right approach to support a democratic partner.

We also changed the way we talked about the war.

Instead of talking about Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine, now we call that the Russia-Ukraine war.

To stop Vladimir Putin we have to be clear on who is responsible for the war, and it is Russia.

Amna: What do you hope changes as a result of your resignation?

Do you see the approach of the white house to the war changing?

>> I cannot predict the future and I resigned not to try to change the policy but I felt I could not execute the policy.

The reason I'm speaking out is because I think it is important for people to know the truth and for people to understand the reasons behind the resignation.

For me this is about U.S.

Being on the right side of history.

For the first time in 28 years of service under five presidents I felt we were on the wrong side of history.

For me, this is something that is not acceptable as someone that has devoted a life of serving the American people, presidents but also trying to achieve our foreign policy goals.

Amna: Are there other people in the embassy in Ukraine, other people in the foreign service that have shared your concerns?

>> Of course, we have a robust policy debate which is a normal thing.

I've seen that happen especially on very -- high level policy issues.

As part of our profession, that is healthy.

Right now, after a lot of the cuts in government and the way they have gone about, it has made a debate last and made people afraid to speak out which I think is dangerous.

I've not seen this kind of atmosphere in our country and my professional lifetime.

I've seen it a lot in democracies that are young, and not 20 or 30 years old.

To have that happen in our country, the biggest and strongest democracy and in my view best democracy in the world is quite disconcerting.

Amna: You noted that peace at any price is not peace and appeasement.

Do you believe it is president trump's goal to appease Vladimir Putin and why if so?

>> I take president trump's word that his goal is to end of the work but I believe to end the war we have to take a harder line with Vladimir Putin and we much be clear in our principles and about who is responsible and we need to find a way where we are playing on our playing field and not on Vladimir Putin's playing field.

By not doing so we are playing into Russian hands.

Amna: Russian experts have said it is not a war of territory but about identity and Russia is looking to change the very fabric of Ukrainian culture and identity.

Do you agree?

>> Absolutely.

I think it is broader than that.

Horrify in I think Vladimir Putin wants to wipe Ukraine off the map as a people and a culture and this harkens back to some of the darkest periods of Europe.

This is why I never thought I would be in a position to resign and speak out publicly.

I think the stakes are so high, not just for Ukraine, Europe but for the United States and we must be on the right side of history.

Amna: Bridget, former U.S.

Ambassador to Ukraine.

Thank you for joining us.

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