The following article is taken by an episode of the podcast “Peace and War”, hosted by Gary Marx.
SUMMARY
Roman Chukhvitsky, president of the Global Alliance for Ukraine, joins host Gary Marx to discuss the hard lessons of war, the urgency of reform, and the evolving role of the U.S.–Ukraine relationship. From NATO’s latest moves to the promise of Patriot missiles and rare earth mineral agreements, Chukhvitsky offers a blunt, forward-thinking analysis on how Ukraine can break from its Soviet past and secure a freer future. With personal insights on rebuilding after Russian aggression and the plight of the Ukrainian diaspora, this episode blends policy, emotion, and strategy in a moment that may shape global order.
00:12 – Introduction and Guest Presentation
Gary: Welcome to Peace and Power Ukraine, a place to discuss all aspects of policy related to Ukraine. Ukraine sits at the crossroads of modern history, where East meets West and freedom collides with totalitarianism. Thank you for joining, as always, during these unprecedented times. There are so many things happening around the world between the Trump administration, Ukraine, NATO, and European partners. There is a lot to discuss today. As always, we try to bring more light than heat in these important discussions.
Today I am joined by Roman Chukvitsky. He is the volunteer president of the Global Alliance for Ukraine. Roman is a seasoned executive with over 17 years of experience in professional services. His expertise spans financial, legal, and logistics, reflecting a diverse and dynamic career. Since 2011, Roman has played a key role in fostering international collaborations, serving as a liaison for the government of Ukraine in various global organizations. He has also advised the head of the State Civil Service of Ukraine on the implementation and adoption of new legislation for the state civil service. Academically, Roman holds a master’s degree in management and finance from the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management. He is also involved in business endeavors committed to strengthening the US-Ukraine relationship. He is fluent in Ukrainian, English, Swedish, and Polish, and brings a very global perspective to this important work of supporting Ukraine. And today, Roman, I promised to only speak in English. Welcome.
Roman: Thank you very much, Gary. It’s an honor and pleasure to be hosted by you, and thank you very much for such a great introduction. I didn’t know a lot of things you just told about me.
Gary: Indeed. It’s good to have friends join us today.
02:15 – Ukraine Independence Day (August 24th)
Gary: I feel like we are coming up on a very important day in Ukraine history. Ukraine Independence Day is coming up, and I thought we should note that before we hit the headlines. Just for our American audience to understand: when is that? What does that look like in terms of celebrations and events here in the United States? I know I was powerfully impacted by being part of an event in Atlanta last year that you hosted and allowed me to be part of. It was so impactful for me. Tell our audience about that.
Roman: Thank you, Gary, it’s a great question. And right away, thank you for participating in that. I think your impact on the Ukrainian community was actually great, because we usually tend to have Ukrainians celebrating Ukrainian Independence Day. And then we had an American joining us and telling us, “Hey, I’ve been to Ukraine. I’ve seen everything. I really celebrate you and the way you fight for your freedom.” So thank you very much for being with us.
Yes, Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day on August 24th. And I think it’s a pretty new celebration day for the American diaspora, because it got bigger and bigger since the invasion started in 2022. But we would definitely come together. We would definitely remember all the history of how Ukraine got its independence and that it was part of the Soviet Union collapse. And we had Viacheslav Chornovil who was the head of this process, and he has been a guy that probably has been driving the independence vehicle and the independence idea that Ukraine should be an independent state out of all the Soviet countries.
Gary: Very good. So, two months away roughly from the time folks hear this. Put that on your calendar: August 24th. There are celebrations around the United States, major cities. You can find a place if you support Ukraine; there is a way to be part of that and look for those opportunities. I know that that is very important. And in Ukraine, there will be also major celebrations, but we have to assume the worst from Vladimir Putin, that he will seek and find every way he can to disrupt and attack that day.
05:06 – NATO Summit, GDP Spending, and Pressure on Russia
Gary: Let’s hit some headlines. We have a lot unfolding right now in the world. President Trump has just been in NATO in The Hague, Netherlands, having important meetings. You saw that there were major developments between the organizations that are all members of NATO, deciding and signing a commitment to make their GDP expenditures 5% for defense. Nearly every single nation, except for Spain, agreed to that. And that’s a direct reaction to what we’ve seen with Russian aggression by Vladimir Putin. So, do you agree that this is a major loss for Russian President Vladimir Putin?
Roman: Absolutely. And as far as I know, they’ve agreed to 3.5% for the core defense and 1.5% for the related capabilities like infrastructure and cyber. But I think, generally, it would have been much better for President Putin not to do what he started back in 2022, because NATO was not that active, to say the least. And I think NATO has become a much bigger threat for Russia by growing those capabilities and having President Trump push the 5% on the European countries’ GDP. I think this is a big threat for Russia, indeed.
Gary: Yeah, I don’t think there’s any way to sugarcoat this other than as a major victory for President Trump, who for years has been pushing for NATO and European allies to step forward. And now, in response to this Russian aggression, he has woken up those European allies in terms of legitimate and serious budget movement. And this is a welcome sign, I think, for the security of all of Europe. And also, I think for those partners who care about Ukraine. While Ukraine might not be a member of NATO, Ukraine’s experience is having major effects and impacts on NATO in a way that I think will help Ukraine ultimately. Would you agree?
Roman: Absolutely. And I think it represents a potential strategic setback for President Putin.
08:02 – Trump’s Exchange with BBC Reporter and Patriot Missiles
Gary: We give a lot of credit to Trump, to Mark Rutte as head of NATO right now, he deserves a great deal of credit. And I think we should also mention there was this powerful emotional moment where there was an exchange between the BBC Ukraine reporter and President Trump. She got up to ask President Trump a question about supporting missile defense and providing Patriot missiles to Ukraine. And President Trump interjected and asked her where she’s from. She said she was a mother and reporter, she had three children living in Warsaw. And he interjected again, asked about her husband, who is a Ukrainian soldier. And clearly she was emotional asking the question. It was this powerful moment of connection. And what I heard him say was, “Yes, it’s difficult to get those Patriot missiles, we’ve been giving those to Israel, we’ve been providing them to Israel during this strategic time, but I heard a promise to give them to Ukraine.” How do you react to that exchange as you saw it unfold?
Roman: I heard the same thing, Gary. And just contemplating on that thought about the US-Israel relationship, I would say that one of the strongest messages for Russia could be the similar ally and a similar approach of the United States and President Trump to Ukraine. It could strengthen Ukraine so much more. And I’m not doubting the NATO part, but as we as Ukraine have really a long way to go into NATO membership, I think the consideration of Ukraine being a strategic ally for the US, the similar way Israel is, could help end this war much faster.
Gary: I think that’s a powerful point. If there’s that type of relationship that Israel has as a model, separate from the NATO question, that might be, in the near term, the better way for American policy makers to probably approach this question. Just as we provide missile defense for Israel against Iran’s drones and missiles, Ukraine is facing Iran’s drones and I think also in some cases missiles that were built for the Russians or at least designs. And why would we not then see: “Okay, this is an ally that also deserves our Patriot missile systems to defend its populace”? Does that sound about right?
Roman: Exactly. And I think that the 12-day war that we’ve seen, US against Iran, is an absolute message and sign to Russia—or it should be at least—that that is potentially what might happen to their allies, to the Iranian allies. So I totally agree with you. And I really want to applaud the Ukrainian journalist. She’s done a great job, she asked a great question. And I think the connection that we’ve seen between President Trump and her was tremendous. I don’t recall any similar reaction of President Trump to any of the questions that he’s been asked lately.
11:37 – Sanctions and Negotiations with Russia
Gary: Yeah, I think that was powerful. We should also mention President Trump did meet with Zelensky and said they had a very nice meeting. While they’ve had a rocky past, they certainly seem to have maybe turned over a new leaf in their relationship. President Trump made this promise of the Patriot missile systems. That’s a major step forward. He did not promise, however, to move forward on sanctions. And indeed Secretary of State Rubio discussed that and said it was not the right time to push forward there because they would then close the door to having communication and negotiations with the Russians. I know a lot of us have already come to the conclusion that the Russians aren’t serious in their negotiations, but at this point, there’s been a lot of positive from this time in NATO. But others might view the lack of moving forward on sanctions in the same way. How do you view that? Are you willing to try to give Rubio and Trump some more time to negotiate?
Roman: As far as I know, we have 75 co-signers already on the Hill that are supporting the sanctions against Russia. And I think this document or this bill has collected 75 people in an extremely short period of time, which is very rare for such cases. But I think we should really look into the history between Ukraine and Russia, and Russia generally in regards to other states. And the biggest concern that we have in these communications regarding the ceasefire, regarding the peace agreement… I don’t think Russia really understands the negotiation process. I don’t think they are capable of respecting even the agreements that they would agree to or sign to. And I think that is one of the major threats and concerns that Ukraine has. Even if we reach the peace agreement, if we reach the ceasefire… President Trump has pushed to the 30-day ceasefire, which Russia has not respected at all. So we may ask ourselves a question: what is the guarantee they will respect any further agreements that might be reached? And I think that’s why the name of this podcast is “Peace through Strength”.
Gary: Yes, peace and power, they go together. And it’s understandable, the Ukrainian people would want security guarantees connected to this because they agreed in the 90s to remove the nuclear weapons that they had. They lost that security guarantee with promises that were backed to protect them, and they want to see that there is that security guarantee provided.
14:56 – Ukrainian Morale and US Policy Shift
Gary: Speaking of the Ukrainian people, what do you think is the morale right now coming out of maybe what we just saw at NATO, where President Trump agreed to the Article 5 mission of NATO and reaffirmed that strong relationship in a way he hadn’t before? And you saw these emotional moments. What’s the morale of the people maybe in Ukraine and then the diaspora here in the United States?
Roman: It’s a great question actually, because as you would know the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian diaspora especially, they were not the biggest fans of President Trump’s administration policy as to Ukraine. And we have heard a lot of different thoughts on the rhetoric and on the message that President Trump was sending prior. But I think it is really important for us to see or look more at what he does and not what he says. And taking a little bit of history, I think we’ve seen a lot of what can be said but not done, versus what is said but actually done. And I think in the last, what is it, close to 150 days of the President Trump’s administration and him being in office, I think we’ve approached, we’ve gone so much further into the ending of this war process that we have been for three years with the previous administration. So I think there are still a lot of Ukrainians that take things emotional and take things by what they actually hear. And it’s just for us to really trust President Trump that he will bring the war to the end. And I really believe that he wants Ukraine prosperous. I really believe that he wants to see his economic ally, as with the new mineral deal that we’ve signed. He would not want to see that country poor and struggling in a war.
17:22 – The Economic Deal and Containing China
Gary: Yeah, that’s a great point. There is that new economic relationship through the minerals deal that I hope gives the Ukrainian people and the US, over in the homeland, some encouragement in the long term, that the American-Ukrainian relationship is direct and is strategic on an economic footing.
Roman: I totally agree. Though I really think that this agreement is just a very first, very formal step into some real deals and real things that we want to see happening in the economic relationship and economic ties between US and Ukraine.
Gary: Very good. I am hopeful that that begins to yield fruit in time. I know that it also strategically would advance President Trump’s interests in curtailing the Chinese. And they have this desire to monopolize the rare earth strategic minerals market. And if this relationship with Ukraine is able to be built and thrive, that undermines the Chinese. And I’ve always felt, as I studied President Trump’s career, he’s been concerned about the Chinese since the 1980s in a way that a lot of other US leaders were not and didn’t have the foresight and understanding to see that threat around the corner.
Roman: I actually believe that is very true, Gary. But I think what is really important for Ukraine as a newly established nation—we’ve been there only a little bit over 30 years—is that what has happened historically is that the government system that we have today was actually inherited from the Soviet system that the Soviet Union was built on. And the system has never changed. And I think one of the strategic key tasks, and maybe asks from America as an ally and from the President Trump administration, is to help Ukraine to shift toward the new government system, reset the government system. And I’m not even talking about people, I’m actually talking about the foundations that we can really build on as a new country, because we have never changed those foundations from the Soviet times.
19:16 – Roman’s Personal Story: Growing Up, Independence, and 2014
Gary: And help our audience understand this. You lived this personally. You grew up in the Soviet times and you spent, I think, 40-plus years of your life in Ukraine. So you experienced this as your life changed from Soviet times to freedom, to Ukraine as an independent state, and then being threatened in 2014 with the Crimean fake war with the little green men. You’ve lived all of this personally, so you understand it. Your life is the embodiment of that.
Roman: That’s true, yes. If telling my personal view or maybe story, after my high school I went to study in Europe. So my teenage years I spent in a little bit different environment, I spent a little bit different system which was more Western. And when I came back to Ukraine and start building my career, I think I was already thinking not as a typical Ukrainian. I already had so much more Western approach and that has helped me a lot in my career and what I’ve done in life. But I think you’re absolutely right, seeing all these changes, how Ukraine was making those steps as an independent country and even taking it economically… I don’t know how many of you know that, but the Ukrainian currency, which is Hryvnia, in the beginning of ’91 it was 1.8 to a dollar versus 42 today to a dollar. So it can tell a lot also during those times and years. And it has actually jumped during the war time from 20 to 40. But it has been a really interesting journey to see how the country was growing but at the same time going through a lot of stages. And seeing Russia in 2014, seeing Russia in Crimea and Donbass and just biting a bit after bit. Unfortunately the world has not reacted. Unfortunately the Ukrainian government has not reacted properly as it should have, because eventually President Trump might be right saying, “Well, you had that war for 10 years already or eight years.”
So I think this moment of the 12-day war was a major step forward for Ukraine. In terms of American policy, the isolationists took a major hit. The Tucker Carlsons, and Bannons, and Candace Owens, a little bit of the JD Vance world and Marjorie Taylor Greene, they took a major hit because President Trump took the opposite path from what they were saying. And all of their predictions were shown wrong. They lost a lot of credibility. And they’ve been the same ones that have been saying regarding Ukrainian policy that maybe we should just ditch Ukraine and they don’t deserve American weaponry and we need to leave. So my hope is that this is an important moment for Ukraine. Would you agree with that perspective?
Roman: I think this is a critically important moment for Ukraine, but not only for Ukraine. I think it is critical for every American, because we don’t want American soldiers and American boots on the European soil. I think Ukraine is capable to protect the Western civilization and the values that we all care about here, against the fake values that Russia tried to impose to everyone officially. But then we’ve seen how Orthodox priests would stay and sanctify with the so-called holy water the tanks and telling the soldiers that they are in the holy war against the demonic countries. So I think this is critically important for every one of us here to understand that being with Ukraine is not only protecting Ukraine, but it’s also protecting the whole world, including the United States and its values and principles that this country has been built on.
25:32 – Family, Rebuilding Irpin, and Air Raid Sirens
Gary: That is a great point. Before we close, I really would like to hear a little bit more about your personal story. As I understand it, you brought your family here for some business opportunities before the full-scale invasion. So you were already here, but your family has not been able to return. It’s just unsafe for you and, I guess, six children, is that right?
Roman: That is correct.
Gary: But you have had the chance to go back and see your home. Help our audience understand what that trip was like and that experience, and how emotionally difficult that was for you.
Roman: It’s a great question, Gary. And you know, one of the things that comes in mind as a comparison… we can all remember the Oval Office discussion and JD Vance saying “I’ve seen the stories.” And I can relate to him saying I’ve seen the stories in the beginning of the war, what was happening in my home city Irpin, which is about 30 minutes drive from Kyiv. But when I came to Ukraine just recently, I was really amazed by the Ukrainians, by the people, and all the stories that I saw about the destruction. Which was very true. These people have been able to rebuild everything and restore everything to a level that I couldn’t believe. And now driving through my city Irpin, we only have dedicated places where you will see signs of the war with everything that was happening, but most of the city was totally rebuilt. And now driving with the city is beautiful, it’s new, it’s all painted and all rebuilt, which is unbelievable to actually showcase the resistance of the Ukrainian people. And it’s so unfortunate to understand that the war has became just part of life that they have adopted to. And as soon as missile alarms are down, everybody goes back to work, everybody goes back to normal life. And unfortunately seeing—I’ve been to Odessa on one of my trips and heard the alarm start going off very loudly in the whole city and people would not even pay attention to that—is how used they got to the fact of that war. And I think this is very difficult to see, then how the missiles come and people die, unfortunately. But yes, my family was probably lucky, it’s a one way to say, but I think God has its hand over us bringing us before the war to the US and pursuing some business opportunities. And I’ve been asked that question: “Did you know anything about this?” And I wish I would. I probably could have had much more people coming with me in 2021.
Gary: Well, that is amazing to hear about the resilience of the people. They’ve got to rebuild quickly, and they also know that at any moment another ballistic missile or a drone could get through and destroy a portion of buildings that they’ll have to rebuild again, but it could also destroy lives. And every night there are sometimes upwards of 400-500 drones and missiles fired. And so many of them are Iranian Shahed drones in particular. And while most of those are shot down, people know that the odds are some are going to get through and some lives are going to be killed. But they’re pressing forward. They’re living life. Sometimes you might think recklessly that they’re ignoring alarms, but they have to push forward. This is now three plus years into the full-scale invasion and their lives have to go forward and they just pray for enough weapons to defend themselves. And in particular, if they could have what the Israelis had to defend themselves against these ballistic missiles in particular, that would be a huge step forward. So I think that may have transpired this week with promises for Patriot missiles. We’ll see if that comes together.
30:25 – Closing Thoughts: The Status of the Ukrainian Diaspora
Gary: But as we close out, if I could just ask if there’s one thing you didn’t get to share with our audience that you would be remiss if you left and you didn’t share and explain, what might that be, Roman Chukvitsky?
Roman: Thank you, Gary. First of all, thank you for inviting me for this wonderful podcast. What you do is really a great and very important thing. And thank you for your support of Ukraine and its people. I think one of the great things that I want to emphasize is the Ukrainians that live here in the United States became a very integrated part of the society. They’ve started a lot of businesses, they got great jobs, their children study with American children in the schools. And I think one of the biggest asks and concerns that Ukrainians that fled from the war gonna face very soon is the fact that their temporary protected status is gonna end. And I think this is one of the topics and subjects that we start to think: how to help those people that want to continue stay here and build their careers and build their businesses in the US? How we can lobby their interests in the country to officially stay and continue contribute to the society here?
Gary: That is a great question and one I think we need to tackle in future episodes. But thank you for raising that because that Ukrainian diaspora is contributing greatly here in the United States, also contributing greatly to the support of Ukraine and its fight against aggression. So thank you for sharing that. And thank you for being a guest here on Peace and Power Ukraine. We will see all of you next time and continue this great discussion.
Follow us