“Little Hope”: The Ukrainian community in Canada interacts with the latest peace talks

Mariana Serco came Canada In the spring of 2024. She has lived in Kiev over the past decade, but Russian attacks on her home eventually forced her to flee, leaving behind friends and family.

“The war is going deeper and deeper, and it has become difficult and difficult to live in Ukraine,” Serco says.

A year later, Sirko thanks the welcome community in her new country as she moves on the typical challenges faced by newcomers. But even when she builds her life in Calgary, her heart is not far from home.

“Although I am here in Canada now, I am still with Ukraine with all my thoughts and feelings.”

Like hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who came to Canada since the war began, Serco is closely watched while world leaders are trying to mediate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. This last attempt comes from US President Donald Trump, who says he is working on arranging a direct meeting between Ukrainian President Voludmir Zelinsky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump met with each of the presidents this week to discuss the ongoing war. If Zelenskyy and Putin meet, this will represent the first personal meeting between the two leaders since Russia has launched its invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.

“Totally cautious optimism,” Petro Satourim, head of the Toronto branch in Toronto, says about the possible meeting. “Russia has not stood on any of the international agreements that they concluded with Ukraine and its European partners, so we are of course careful, but at the same time we realize that the only way this ends through some negotiating settlement.”

In a video clip that was filmed outside the White House, Zelinski praised his meeting with Trump on Monday and appears to be ready for the long -awaited meeting. However, Russia is currently not binding, after unleashing another round of attacks against Ukraine on Tuesday night, targeting residential areas. This step leaves not answered questions within the Canadian Ukrainian society.

“Many people think it is really difficult to trust Putin and Trump at the present time,” says Anna Tselukhina, a member of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress based in Calgary. “(Putin) has broken many ceasefire agreements over the past ten years, and Trump changes his opinion every day.”

Tselukhina moved to Calgary from a small town in Luhansk in 2022 after it was occupied by Russian forces. Her mother has lost early attacks, and says she does not know the place of burial, but she says that Ukraine is still her home, and wants the country to remain in one piece.

“It is really painful because this is my hometown, the place where I was living,” says Tselukhina. “I want it to be Ukraine.”

The pressure on Ukraine depends to re -draw some of its borders to help hold a deal, but for many Ukrainians, including Tselukhina, this is just another component in a growing list of losses.

But despite the ongoing attacks, sometimes it is not possible to reach an indelible deal, there is still hope that with Canadian and European support, the two sides may reach an agreement.

“Despite all unpredictable conditions and all pressure on Ukraine during these meetings, we still have some good steps for everyone,” Serco says. “During this meeting, I hope various talks about the return of the war prisoners or kidnapped children.”

– With files from Global News’ Amandalina Letterio

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