(NewsNation) — A U.S. Army veteran who served alongside Ukraine’s military expressed dismay at Friday’s blowup between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump but said people in the war-torn European nation would never stop fighting against Russian invaders, even if America pulls support.
Carl Larson of Seattle fought on Ukraine’s front lines for six months, an experience he describes as “horrific and brutal and difficult,” and revisited the country last fall.
He tells “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” that he heard from several people in Ukraine Friday after a White House meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump went sideways, jeopardizing a potential U.S.-brokered peace deal with Russia.
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“I have dozens of friends, Americans, who are still on the front lines, and they’re telling me they can’t believe what’s happened, and they’re just horrified,” Larson said.
Larson said he hopes the relationship can be mended but added Ukrainians won’t fold, even if the Trump administration pulls support.
“I was just in Ukraine in October,” he said. “Every Ukrainian I met with — I met with hundreds — they all told me the same thing: They told me American support was very, very important, and they thanked America. But they all, every single one of them, told me that they would keep fighting, even without our support.”
Another guest speaking with Vargas, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, suggested the breakdown between Trump and Zelenskyy isn’t necessarily permanent. He said it’s in both nations’ interests to stay unified and hammer out a revenue-sharing deal on Ukraine’s natural resources.
“President Trump said he thinks the deal is important, he’d like to get it done. He’s waiting for Zelenskyy essentially to come back and express some concern about the way that meeting went,” said Herbst, who served under President George W. Bush.
