Dear Editor:
It’s time Ukrainian Americans woke up to the new political realities in the United States. For as long as I can remember, we Ukrainians have been mostly supporters of the Republican Party, largely because of that party’s strong anti-Soviet stance. However, we can no longer blindly support a party that has abandoned us and our concerns.
President Donald Trump’s adulation for Vladimir Putin and his constant excuses for Mr. Putin’s behavior should have been enough of a signal to Ukrainian Americans that there is trouble ahead for Ukraine. Trump supporters point out that his administration did provide weapons to Ukraine that Barack Obama never did, but that was a move by Jim Mattis and H.R. McMaster and they are gone from the government. Trump supporters also point to new sanctions passed against Russia as proof that the president is “tough on Russia.” Unfortunately that statement, like much of what Mr. Trump says, is a lie. Mr. Trump has delayed the implementation of sanctions passed by Congress and has been trying to remove them since he was elected.
Ukrainian Americans need to look at what is happening now. Russia attacked Ukrainian ships and took their sailors prisoner. Mr. Trump did nothing, issuing a statement basically blaming both sides. Mr. Trump’s antagonism to NATO is front page news, damaging the only alliance that keeps Russia in check. The Trump administration removed the sanctions on the Russian aluminum company owned by Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch close to Mr. Putin. That move alone should make every Ukrainian American sick to his stomach. Exactly what has Mr. Putin done to deserve any relaxation of sanctions? And this will have repercussions, mark my words. Many European states will use this as an excuse to relax their own sanctions on Russia.
If it was just President Trump, Ukrainian Americans could maybe overlook these things and wait until Mr. Trump is gone. But it’s not just Mr. Trump. For the sanctions to be removed on Rusal required a lot of votes by Republican senators. Guess what? Many Republican politicians have received large campaign contributions from various Russian oligarchs. The days of Republicans being a bulwark against Russia look to be over. Russia has figured out how to influence Americans, something that the Soviets never could do. They just buy our politicians, and it seems that many Republicans have been open to being bought. The turnaround by some of these politicians is shocking, to say the least. Who would have ever imagined that Lindsay Graham, once a great anti-Putin Ukraine supporter and friend of John McCain, would vote to remove the sanctions on a Russian company owned by a Putin pal?
We Ukrainians need to stop supporting any politicians who vote for any sanctions relief or vote for anything in Russia’s interest. There is nothing more patriotic a Ukrainian American can do than to withhold our support from these politicians and to vote them out of office. It’s a patriotic act for America and for Ukraine as well.
Hollywood, Fla.