Republicans gave President Donald Trump a standing ovation during his address to Congress on Tuesday for his efforts to broker peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, when he said, “If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides.”
But Trump’s tactics have alarmed supporters of Ukraine in New Jersey, as the Trump administration this week cut off all aid to Ukraine, including military and intelligence support, and will reportedly revoke the Temporary Protected Status the Biden administration extended to families who fled the war.
“A lot of people feel like our top ally, which is United States, is betraying us at the worst time,” said Yuriy Boyechko, who heads Hope for Ukraine. He has collected and shipped 3 million pounds of aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country three years ago and had hoped for more even-handed treatment from the Trump administration. Boyechko said he deplores the Oval Office debacle with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Friday that ended in chaos, instead of a planned agreement on rare-earth minerals.
“If you follow Russian media, right now for them it’s like Fourth of July, as far as celebration. They’ve been given a lifeline,” Boyechko said.
After the Oval Office meltdown, U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-7th) told the New Jersey Globe that Zelenskyy “needs to come back to Washington D.C. and negotiate with President Trump if we’re going to get a real peace deal in Europe and stand united against Vladimir Putin.” Zelenskyy later sent Trump a conciliatory letter, posting on social media that Ukraine is ready to sign that minerals agreement and come to the negotiating table “any time.”
Activists like Natalia Ioffe in Jersey City see a very lopsided political power struggle. “I would be curious to ask, What is then the ultimatum to the Russian side?” said Ioffe, who emigrated to the U.S. 33 years ago and is a trustee on Jersey City’s Board of Education. “What will Russia be asked to concede in order to agree to these negotiations?”
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) said, “Curtailing intelligence sharing will degrade Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from Russia’s illegal aggression.”
Yana Bron agrees. She has family in Ukraine and fears civilians won’t get timely air-raid warnings about incoming attacks.
“It means that Ukraine won’t be able to prevent rocket attacks and to hit those Russian rockets. So it means that more people, civilians will die,” Bron said.
Professor Alexander Motyl of Rutgers University says Trump’s actions at least galvanized European nations to commit resources and resolve to Ukraine’s defense.
“Regardless of whether that happens or not, this is a clear signal to Ukraine that it needs to rely on its European allies, who stepped up to the plate,” he said.
