The Trump administration will recall thirty US ambassadors and other senior diplomats appointed by former U.S. President Joe Biden.

Among them is U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien, who was appointed to this position in 2023.

The recall, first reported by Politico, is based on anonymous sources within the U.S. State Department.

The Guardian writes that the recall, considered highly unusual, “is a  move to reshape the US diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of Donald Trump’s ‘America first’ priorities.”

The largest number of U.S. ambassadors will be replaced in thirteen countries in Africa, followed by six in the Asia-Pacific region, four in Europe, and two each two each in the Middle East (Algeria and Egypt); South Asia (Nepal and Sri Lanka); and the western hemisphere (Guatemala and Suriname).

The Guardian reports that chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their tenures would end in January.

The U.S. State Department has declined to give specifics but described the changes as a routine administrative process.

Politico reports, citing John Dinkelman of the American Foreign Service Association, that ambassadors in East Asia and the Pacific received phone calls instructing them to leave by Jan. 15 or 16, without any explanation.

Update: The U.S. Embassy in Armenia confirmed the news of Kvien’s departure in response to queries from the press in Armenia.

The embassy, in a statement, writes that U.S, policy towards Armenia will not change and that it remains committed to its partnership with Armenia and the implementation of the bilateral agreements signed by President Trump and PM Pashinyan during the historic peace summit in Washington on August 8.

As to who will replace Kvien, and when, remain unanswered questions. It’s estimated that the U.S. currently has some eighty vacant ambassadorships.