Milwaukee-area residents with strong ties to Ukraine are commenting on last week’s peace talks between the U.S. and Russia that President Donald Trump says are aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
About 200 people gathered in downtown Milwaukee Sunday afternoon to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Halyna Salapata heads Wisconsin Ukrainians, which has supplied nonmilitary aid such as health items and clothing to Ukraine since the invasion. She says that Trump has an incredible opportunity to bring a just and lasting peace.
“If he is serious about security, he will find millions of supporters on both sides of the Atlantic standing with him. If he succeeds, he will be celebrated worldwide. But let us be clear: any attempt to force Ukraine into signing an agreement without Ukraine’s active participation is doomed to fail," Salapata told the audience.
Part of Trump's plan includes reaching a deal with Ukraine to give the U.S. large amounts of revenue from sales of Ukrainian minerals and other natural resources as compensation for the military aid the U.S. has sent Ukraine.
Milwaukeean Anya Verkhovskaya has lived in Ukraine and Russia and considers herself Ukrainian. She started to tell us what she thinks of Trump’s mineral deal proposal.
“Can I curse?" she asked.
After agreeing not to, Verkhovskaya continued.
“It’s raping, stealing, forcing, blackmailing the country into submission. And that’s not the way world leaders conduct diplomacy," she said.
But Volodymyr Opryshchemko, who moved to Milwaukee from Ukraine in 2008, says that depending on the final numbers, a minerals agreement that secures U.S. protection for Ukraine may be beneficial.
“If the United States will defend their mineral resources in the theater of Ukraine, I think this is a compromise. Why not?” Opryshchemko tells WUWM.
Trump said over the weekend that he thinks the U.S. and Ukraine are close to a minerals deal. A White House spokesperson claimed a peace agreement could come this week.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says European leaders are first meeting Monday to discuss military aid and security guarantees for his country.
