Less than a week after gathering to show support to his Ukrainian colleagues on the three years of the war with Russia, Anna Tselukhina and her organization are preparing to meet again.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) will host what is called an emergency rally on Sunday afternoon in the center of Calgary in response to the Friday meeting between the President of the United States Donald TrumpVice president JD VANCE and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During the testcy and warm exchange in front of the cameras in the oval office, Trump told Zelenskyy to make an agreement with Russia to end the war Ukraine Or « We are out ».
Trump and Vance also accused Zelenskyy of « playing with World War II » and told him that he must be more grateful for the assistance of the United States in the fight against the three -year siege of Russia.
« This is our way to increase our voice and say that Ukraine is not only a flag, not only those rare metals somewhere underground, but Ukraine are people who know, understand, feel, who want their home to be free and independent, » said Tselukhina.
She says that the Ukrainians who fled to Canada because of the war are disappointed by the way the meeting was reduced.
The UCC called Trump and Vance’s « unpleasant » and a « shameful attack » behavior.
Zelenskyy, who was in Washington to end an economic agreement granted by the U.S. ownership of some rare land minerals in Ukraine, left the white house without signing an agreement.
Despite the explosive exchange on Friday, the connection between Kyiv and Washington is tense, but is not cut off, according to Hanna Shelest, director of the Ukraine Prism Foreign Policy Security Study Program and Ukraine Analytica Chief Editor.
« My professional intuition is saying it was intentionally done, » Shelest said, referring to Trump and Vance on Friday.
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« It is now possible to say that President Trump is the hero who would like a peace, and the Ukrainians have the President who would like the war and the Ukrainians are guilty by themselves. »
For the Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of McGill, Maria Popova, Friday’s exchange indicated the objectives of the Trump administration.
« To get Zelensky to sign a kind of blank type of control. They want to break it and really submit it to everything that decides will be the treatment of peace, » he said.
« We will continue, in fact, for a while, to see this kind of head and forward and this attempt by Trump administration to Ukraine with a strong arm to accept something. »
Despite not signing a rare land agreement with the United States, Shelest says Zelenskyy was open about the fact that he is ready for the future with the United States
According to Shelest, Trump’s apparent tour of his comments called Zelenskyy as a dictator is an indication that the President is willing to change his mind.
However, the question is now whether the United States will continue to support Ukraine or if the load will fall to Europe.
« Unfortunately, without the United States, it would be extremely difficult. None of the European countries will be able to complement -« said Shelest.
However, experts warn about the consequences in the event that the United States retains the patriot missile system.
« One of the initial ways of seeing, this will be more civilian victims, as Russia bombs Ukrainian cities and Ukrainian cities do not have the missiles to intercept and defend their civilians. »
The answers could come early next week when the Allies gather in London.
In front of the summit with other European leaders, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer embraced Zelenskyy on Saturday and told him that he had the unmatched support of the nation.
The British media reported that King Charles has expanded an invitation to Zelenskyy for the Ukrainian leader to come to Sandringham on Sunday. The king has previously launched his support behind Ukraine.
Canada leaders, the European Union and several EU members also expressed their solidarity with Ukraine, which Zelenskyy shared and thanked their X (formally Twitter) account.
Foreign Minister Melanie Jole reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to Ukraine and support for an agreement with the United States, but did not directly condemn what happened at the meeting. She, however, said that Russia was « pointing to the interaction that happened today. »
« We know that President Putin has no red lines, » Vancouver told journalists. « Our goal is to ensure that we can continue to support the Ukrainians and that we can maintain a very strong G7 unit in the midst of all this unpredictability and even chaos. »
In the first lines, Shelest says that Russia and Ukraine « are currently trying to get as favorable as possible before diplomatic negotiations. »
She says that the effort must be made to understand the possible hidden reasons for Friday’s exchange.
« Because if this is done to satisfy the Russians, this would be much more difficult in this case. (I) It means that the North -Americans have just chosen to ally with (one) enemy in place (of) to ally with friends. »
In Calgary, Tselukhina maintains hope for her country and the family and friends she left behind.
« This is like an exam for the whole world. Will we keep democracy as a high value or will we give up on it? « She said. « I think, I hope we can pass this exam. »
– with files from Sean Boynton and Drew Stremick
& Copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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