The meetings between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are being watched closely by the North Texas Ukrainian community, many of whom still have family living in some of the country’s most dangerous areas.
Leo Regheta has lived in North Texas for 30 years but still makes frequent trips back home to Ukraine. He’s been seven times since the war began.
Pastor returns from war-torn Kharkiv
“I actually just came back two days ago, and I was in Ukraine for over two weeks,” he said. “I had the chance to visit and work in the city of Kharkiv — that’s northeast, right on the border of Russia.”
As a pastor, he was there to host a trauma healing conference and open a new trauma healing center for the community. Something he says everyone desperately needs right now.
Sirens, drones, and destruction nightly
Air sirens, drone attacks at night, and mass destruction are all things he personally experienced on his trip.
“I can’t even imagine what it’s like for the Ukrainian people to do this day in and day out for years now,” he said.
Misconceptions about war persist locally
He says to his surprise, since he’s been back, he’s run into people who have told him they thought the war was over.
“I had a plumber come by this morning, and he’s like, ‘Oh, how is the rebuilding and I’m like rebuilding?” he said. “And he was like, yeah, the war is over, and I’m like it’s the worst it’s ever been.”
Trump calls missile plan ‘dangerous’
Today, in a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, President Trump was asked about giving Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine and whether his administration would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia.
He said it’s a “dangerous escalation” and urged Russia and Ukraine to make a peace deal. Zelenskyy said security guarantees are the most important thing.
Local pastor supports Ukraine’s defense
“I think he speaks for the entire nation,” Regheta said. “It’s Russia who came into the country with force, with death, with destruction, and the only way that it will understand that it needs to stop is through force.”
Regheta says here locally, Ukrainians are praying for the war to end and that all they want is to live peacefully.