Ukrainians in Triangle cautious, hopeful of latest negotiations almost 3 years since war began

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- It has now been almost three years since Russia invaded Ukraine and during that time, thousands of people have moved to the Triangle fleeing the war. Now amid news from the Trump administration about negotiating an end to the Ukraine-Russia war, many are worried about their future.

At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Olena Kozlova-Pates was sending off a friend on a mission.

"One of our board members is off to Boston, and then on to Poland to get into Ukraine and visit our partners there and take some medical supplies," Kozlova-Pates said.

Her group, Ukrainians in the Carolinas, has made many of these trips supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

"It's all because of the generosity of friends here in North Carolina," she said.

After years of war, though, it has taken its toll.

"The bloodshed must stop and this war must end," said U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

On Wednesday, Hegseth was calling for peace while President Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but it's the terms of a potential agreement that are raising a lot of questions. Hegseth said Ukraine joining NATO or getting its 2014 boundaries back would be "unrealistic" and that European forces, not U.S. troops should be the main sources of security in the area post-war, terms likely to not be amenable to Ukraine.

Kozlova-Pates is urging the US government to stand up for democracy.

"I hope he remembers what President Reagan said during the Cold War was that there's no security, no safety, in the appeasement of evil," Kozlova-Pates said.

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Slavic and East European Studies Professor Graeme Robertson has studied the region since the Cold War and said things are much different now.

"I think people should be worried. I think that very simply if you were going to negotiate a peace deal, you don't give up all the important elements of that negotiation before you even start," Robertson said.

He said as the U.S. pivots toward other looming threats such as China, that shouldn't come at the expense of allies such as Ukraine and other European allies.

"This is a moment where you would really need steady American leadership in support of pro-democratic forces in Europe and we're not seeing that, and I think that's very short-sighted," he said.

But Kozlova-Pates said that after visiting friends and family in Ukraine, they're encouraged. "They live on this hope, they're very hopeful that America will not leave them behind," she said.

In the meantime, Ukrainians in the Carolinas is hoping to raise awareness of the third anniversary of the invasion by having a rally in downtown Raleigh at 4 pm on Feb. 23 at the State Capitol.