MINNEAPOLIS — Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, visited Minneapolis Thursday to launch a whistle-stop tour to rally support for her nation’s ongoing defense against Russia’s invasion.
She shared the stage at the Ukrainian American Center with Heather Conley of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Howard Buffett, the Nebraska farmer and philanthropist who heads the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
Ambassador Markarova said she deeply appreciated the support of Americans and the U.S. Government, and asserted it needs to continue.
"When we talk about values and principles on which our countries are built, if we are serious about them, then we have to defend them everywhere," Markarova told the crowd from Minnesota’s Ukrainian community.
"If we allow Ukraine to fall, then how can we still go ahead and say these values are sacred to us?"
Organizers of the tour say it started here in Minnesota because of the state’s deep, historic ties to Ukraine. The ambassador said it’s not just a matter of money and supplies.
"The most important support is your voice, and the fact Americans who support us can say it out loud, say it by putting the flag outside of your home, by telling your neighbors why you support Ukraine," Markarova told reporters after the event.
"Just continue supporting us because we can win. We can win this one."
Buffett noted that the stakes are high for Americans in Ukraine, because Russian’s ambitions may extend into NATO nations that the U.S. has committed to defend in warfare.
"His intent is to destroy Ukraine, destroy the Ukrainian people and then move on,” Buffett remarked. “If Putin beats Ukraine and moves deeper into Europe, we will be sending our children to fight that war. That's what's at stake."
Conley said her foundation is working towards restoring the war-torn nation, just as the U.S. and its allies rebuilt its former enemies after World War II with the original Marshall Plan.
"This entire whistle-stop tour is about making sure that communities in the United States understand fundamentally what's so important about Ukraine, and that our communities are joining together," Conley told reporters.
Some Congressional Republicans have wavered in their support of Ukraine and NATO. They’re willing to extend aid to Ukraine as part of a deal that also includes more money for security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
One goal of the tour is to draw empathy from American farmers to what Ukrainian farmers are going through. The farming region once known as Europe’s “breadbasket” has been hobbled by the invading Russians.
"You’re seeing combines that are blown up," Buffett explained. "You've seen farmers that have died in their fields as a result of it. You’re seeing farmland with thousands of land mines that will need to be removed."
Ambassador Markarova said the Russian blockade of Ukraine Black Sea ports has made exporting agricultural products much more difficult.
"By destroying the crops Russia specifically targets the grain storage, the sileages, the elevators."
Among those on hand for Thursday’s event were severely injured Ukrainian Army soldiers being treated here through the Protez Foundation. The ambassador spoke to them in their native tongue.
Thursday’s press conference was held in the gymnasium of the Ukrainian American center. a space filled with medical supplies destined for those wounded on the battlefront or injured in Russian missile attacks.