Ukrainian-American students feel increasing fear and uncertainty about Ukraine’s future with President Donald Trump’s negative rhetoric toward the country and revamped efforts to end the war. 

Trump continues peace talks to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine after over three years of fighting with plans to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, Reuters reported. This comes after a tense meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February. 

Ukrainians rallied at the Minnesota State Capitol Saturday to support the continued U.S.-Ukraine relationship. Hosted by Stand with Ukraine MN and the Ukrainian American Community Center, the rally featured speakers from Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania urging Minnesotans to support Ukraine’s fight for independence. 

Concern for the future of Ukraine leaves students like Kevin Babashov fearful for his parents’ home country. Babashov, a second-year University of Minnesota student, said Trump’s handling of the war in Ukraine makes him nervous, especially Trump’s statements about Putin not starting the war. 

“The fact that they won’t even acknowledge that Russia was the aggressor in this war and that they provoked an unwarranted invasion,” Babashov said. “It seems like such a basic thing for them to acknowledge that they won’t. I don’t know, it just feels unreal to me.”

Babashov said his parents immigrated to the U.S. in 2003 from the Crimea region, a former region of Ukraine annexed by Russia in 2014. He said his parents left due to the increased military presence in the region at the time and hoped life in the U.S. would yield more opportunities and a stable life. 

Second-year student Victoria Untura said her parents supported Trump when they first immigrated to the U.S. in 2015 from Moldova, a country neighboring Ukraine. However, seeing her relatives and friends in wartime Ukraine while the U.S. pulls back aid makes her parents and herself feel scared for their loved ones’ safety. 

“It feels like Ukraine has to fight for themselves with not a lot of support from other Americans,” Untura said. 

First-year student Sophia Milinchuk, who co-founded the Minnesotan Ukrainian Student Association, said despite being in the U.S. her whole life, Trump giving Ukraine the cold shoulder has not surprised her.

“I definitely expected them to be hindered when Trump was appointed to office,” Milinchuk said. “This is definitely not something that came as a shock to me as I’ve been following really closely the news and his thoughts and feelings, his relationship with Putin.”

Dissecting the Oval Office meeting and beyond

Trump and Zelenskyy met last month at the White House to discuss a possible mineral investment deal between the two countries that would also help increase security in Ukraine. The agreement was intended to be signed during the meeting but a tense exchange between the world leaders ended the meeting on a sour note. 

During the meeting, Zelenskyy was questioned if he ever thanked the U.S. for supporting Ukraine and why he does not wear a suit. 

Untura said she thought it was unfair to ambush Zelenskyy with those questions and that his authority was undermined by people in the meeting. 

“I think he was looked upon as, as kind of a fool, as kind of someone with no power,” Untura said. 

Milinchuk, whose parents immigrated from Ternopil, Ukraine in the 1990s, said she thought how Zelenskyy was treated was very disrespectful and never expected a leader of a country to speak to another as Trump and Vance did. Especially to a leader of a country who is battling an ongoing war, Milinchuk added. 

“It was a lot of just trying to get a negative reaction from Zelenskyy and to paint the Ukrainian people as ungrateful,” Milinchuk said. “I thought it was so disrespectful.”

In increased efforts to roll back Biden-era immigration protections, Trump is considering revoking the temporary legal status of around 240,000 Ukrainian refugees who fled due to the war with Russia, Reuters reported. 

At the possibility of Ukrainian immigration statuses being revoked, Babashov said he is scared because forcing refugees back to a war-torn country will endanger their lives. 

“I don’t understand how does this benefit (Ukrainians) in any way,” Babashov said. “But that’s also kind of just a lot of the actions that the Trump administration has taken recently.”

Alongside potentially revoking the statuses of Ukrainians, Trump also paused military and intelligence aid to Ukraine with no timeline for when aid will resume, CBS News reported. Milinchuk said it feels to her that Trump is punishing Ukraine for how he feels about Zelenskyy. 

“They got into a dispute, and now it just seems like (Trump) is reacting in a very emotional way that’s not really taking into account the effect that that’s going to have on the Ukrainian people,” Milinchuk said. 

The misinformation spreading about Zelenskyy surprises Babashov the most, he said, especially Trump’s statements that the Ukrainian president has a four percent approval rating when recent polls put that number over 50%. 

It is necessary to highlight past security assurances and agreements between the two countries, especially when Ukraine crucially needs support from the U.S. and other countries, Untura added. 

“We should be there for them. If not them, we could be next,” Untura said. “It’s important to hold hands with your brothers and sisters and honestly establish the real perpetrator of Russia and the imperialistic power that they have and not let it get to here.”