‘Betrayal’: Ukrainian-Americans in Seattle slam Trump, prepare to protest

Updated on Feb. 24 with new information and new photos.

Ukrainian-Americans in Seattle are saddened, shocked and planning to protest after an apparent reversal of U.S. foreign policy on Ukraine by the Trump administration.

Over the past week, tensions between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have worsened, as Zelenskyy said Ukraine was not invited to American ceasefire talks with Russia and Trump labeled the Ukrainian leader a “dictator.”

Zelenskyy responded, saying Trump lives in a bubble of “disinformation.”

It marks a sudden and stark contrast from the Biden administration’s support, Ukrainian-Americans told KIRO Newsradio.

“It feels like a total betrayal by our country,” said Anna, a Ukrainian-American living in Seattle for more than 10 years and a volunteer with the Ukraine Defense Support nonprofit.

Anna fears retaliation for her criticism and has requested KIRO Newsradio not disclose her last name.

“Now, U.S. is giving up on Ukraine, betraying Ukraine,” she said, adding that her friends still in the war-torn nation worry over unsteady American support. “This is painful at least, but also I have to stay strong to provide hope to people in Ukraine.”

She said she messages her friends there regularly. They sent her photos when her hometown was shelled.

“My dad is in Ukraine, my aunt and uncles are in Ukraine,” she said. “Every time the [air raid] siren alert is happening in Ukraine, I know about that. My friends will tell me about that.”

Trump falsely claimed this week that Ukraine was to blame for starting the nearly-three-year-old war with Russia. It is a narrative commonly spread by the Russian government.

“It was shocking,” said Oleg Pynda, executive director of the Ukrainian Community Center of Washington, which assists refugees in immigration. “I couldn’t believe what I heard.”

The UCCW serves about 3,000 Ukrainian refugees per year from its office in Skyway, Pynda said. He estimates 23,000 Ukrainians have resettled in Washington State since the beginning of the war.

“Many of those people, they have lost their homes – everything,” he said. “So now, this administration not providing assistance to Ukraine and putting in jeopardy the legal stay of those Ukrainians who are here temporarily – what is going to happen then? Are they going to lose their immigration status? Where should they go? Deport them to what country?”

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, initially calling it a “special military operation.” Eight years earlier, the Russian government annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

(Photo: Oleksandr Pshenychnyy)

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Ukrainian-Americans in Seattle Plan Protest Over U.S. Policy Shift

Pynda said he is just as worried now as he was then, but that from thousands of miles away and 35 months of war later, he still approves of Zelenskyy’s leadership.

“He does everything possible to do to support his country,” he said. “Hearing statements like he is a dictator, like he started the war – this is absurd.”

Conflicting reports surfaced Thursday in Ukrainian newspapers that U.S. weapons deliveries had been halted. One Ukrainian lawmaker told an interviewer companies involved in the sales were waiting on “political decisions,” the Kyiv Post reported. Another lawmaker posted to Facebook denying that any deliveries had been stopped.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said he could not confirm the rumors.

“I’m relying on headlines,” he told KIRO Newsradio before criticizing Trump’s remarks as “embarrassing.”

“I travel around the world, I meet with presidents and foreign ministers and defense ministers,” he said. “It makes us look like clowns. It’s a real problem for the credibility of the United States on the national stage just in general. Specifically, it’s devastating to the fight to stop Putin – not just in Ukraine but in threatening Europe beyond Ukraine.”

Smith said he is concerned Trump may follow through with previous suggestions he would pull the United States out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.

“It creates layers of confusion,” Smith said.

Some of Trump’s supporters have cheered his recent tone toward Ukraine, pointing toward campaign promises to end the war. His critics, including some members of the Republican party, said his negotiations have surrendered too many demands to Russia but produced too few concessions.

Ukrainian-Americans like Pynda and Anna, meanwhile, grow more nervous for their family and friends still in Ukraine. They are both planning to join a Ukrainian support rally Sunday, marching from Pike Place Market to the Space Needle, in hopes to turn discontent into awareness.

“Showing that we are going to fight and do what’s in our power to help them,” Anna said.

Smith told KIRO Newsradio he agrees with their feelings of betrayal. He also plans to join the march.

Monday marks the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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Sam Campbell is a reporter, anchor and editor at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Sam on X, or email him here.  

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