Situation over peace talks upsetting local Ukrainians

Jeff Keele reports on Manitoba’s Ukrainian community’S reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about the war in Ukraine.

As the war in Ukraine approaches three years, Manitoba’s Ukrainian community is feeling uneasy about the latest developments.

Oksana Burchak has been in Canada 12 years and lives in Winnipeg with her family.

“I’m pretty upset. I’m pretty angry,” said Burchak.

The United States and Russia have been involved in peace talks without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The war started when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. But this week, President Donald Trump seemed to blame the conflict on Zelenskyy.

“He never should have started it. He should have made a deal,” said Trump.

When Zelenskyy pushed back, Trump called him a dictator. The rhetoric is upsetting local Ukrainians who have seen the devastation in their home country firsthand.

“My daughter was baptized in the church, which no longer exists because three weeks ago the bomb destroyed the church,” said Burchak.

Burchak can’t understand how Trump can make the false claims. She worries about Ukraine’s future.

“My unfortunate expectation is the next step for Putin will be to just take over the whole Ukraine.”

Ostap Skrypnyk, with the Canadian Ukrainian Congress in Manitoba, said the situation is disheartening.

“What happened over the last week has obviously been disturbing for people and a bit of a surprise,” said Skrypnyk.

But he feels this has galvanized support for Ukraine in Canada and Europe.

To mark the third anniversary of the war, his organization is holding a rally on Sunday at 2:30 PM at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

“We want to show the solidarity of Ukrainian Canadians in general with the people of Ukraine in their struggle that it’s not forgotten about.”