Chrystia Freeland, who was former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s top ally before she helped force him out, said Tuesday she was leaving the cabinet for a role focused on Ukraine.

Freeland also ran to replace Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and prime minister, but lost decisively in a March vote to Mark Carney, before joining Carney’s cabinet.

Carney said he had asked Freeland — a fluent Ukrainian speaker — to serve in a new role, Canada’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Freeland said she was leaving her role as minister for transport and internal trade “with tremendous gratitude and a little sadness,” adding that she would stay on in parliament but did not plan to seek another term.

“A great strength of democracy is that no one holds political office

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