Ukrainians Won't Stop Fighting, Even If Us Pulls Support: Veteran

A U.S. Army veteran who served alongside Ukraine’s military expressed dismay at the Friday blowup between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President 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.

Larson told NewsNation's “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” that he heard from several people in Ukraine after the White House meeting between Trump and Zelensky went sideways, jeopardizing potential U.S.-brokered peace negotiations with Russia and Ukraine's mineral deal.

“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.

The veteran added that he hopes the relationship can be mended but added Ukrainians won’t fold, even if the Trump administration turns the other way.

“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," Larson told NewsNation.

Another guest speaking with Vargas, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, suggested the breakdown between Trump and Zelensky isn’t necessarily permanent. He noted that it is 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," said Herbst, who served under former President George W. Bush. "He’s waiting for Zelensky essentially to come back and express some concern about the way that meeting went."