President Trump has not only stopped funding Ukraine but has halted sharing intelligence following a heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.
In the president's speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump talked about Ukraine and took a swipe at European nations, saying they have "spent more money buying Russian oil and gas than they have spent on defending Ukraine."
Across the country on Tuesday, there was a call for protests to be held at state capitol buildings. Hundreds turned out across Hawaiʻi to stand with Ukraine.
Lara Palafox is the spokesperson for the group Hawaii Stands with Ukraine, which was formed three years ago after Russia invaded Ukraine. Palafox is planning another rally at the end of the month in hopes that there can be a path forward for peace following the fallout of the White House meeting last week.
"I've never seen America fail so badly in diplomacy as was witnessed in Zelenskyy's visit to the Oval Office... It echoes the sentiments of America's friends around the world. And if you'd rather side with an enemy of America than your friends, I don't know what hope there is for America to maintain its standing in the world," she said.
"To say that you want peace when in fact you just want a piece of Ukraine is really quite disgusting and tragic and does not honor the spirit of democracy. It does not honor humanitarianism," she said. "We need to preserve the balance of countries in the world that actually care about human beings. Money is money. Business is business. But human lives are priceless."
Ukrainian refugee Oksana Vansovich came to Hawaiʻi to seek safe haven when Russia invaded. She said she did not vote for Zelenskyy but defended him in his quest to end the war. She said he is not a dictator as Trump called him.
Vansovich was encouraged by the community turnout Tuesday to support her country during this tumultuous time.
"This make us sad because we understand it's not what we expected from United States. We have not safe places in Ukraine because they bomb our cities daily — every day. It's just a lottery — what city, what building will exploding the next, and even if we fall asleep, we never can be sure as we will wake up tomorrow," she said.
Vansovich hopes there can be a path forward to peace in her home country with help from the U.S. and European allies.
This interview aired on The Conversation on March 5, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
