Calgary Ukrainian community to hold emergency Sunday rally following verbal attack on Zelenskyy at White House

Friday's tense exchange between Donald Trump and co. and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reverberating here in Calgary.

Calgary’s Ukrainian community is holding an emergency rally Sunday in aresponse to the events that unfolded during the visit of President Zelenskyy to the White House on Friday.

In a statement shared online, Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) national president Alexandra Chyczij said that the “shameful attack by Trump and Vance on President Zelenskyy was one of the most disgraceful things we have ever witnessed” from a U.S. administration.

Friday afternoon, Lydia Megas, a member of the UCC Alberta provincial council, reacted to the verbal attack on Zelenskyy, saying “I was disgusted. It was gut-wrenching.

“If this is how they treat their allies, it’s scary,” she added.

Alyssa Stoddard, another member of the Alberta provincial council, said “We (Canada) don’t want to be the 51st state of America, and certainly Ukraine does not want to be Russian.

“This is about democracy,” she added, “and really what the definition of peace and freedom is in for the world.”

University of Calgary military historian Rob Huebert said the White House incident was ominous and had historic echoes.

“We’re heading into a horrible situation,” Huebert said. “Basically (verbally) beating down (someone) -- that’s the essence, of course, of what Hitler did with Austria and Czechoslovakia.

“Trump is talking about making good TV, instead of dealing with the very deadly nature of what he is talking about,” Huebert added.

“There is a potential (for) World War Three,” he said. “Let’s be clear, there is a real high risk here, but it’s not from the action of what the Ukrainians are doing. It is what the Russians are doing.

“So it’s just astonishing,” he added, “(that) someone as powerful as the American president, (is) basically lying about who is at fault here and who is creating the risk.”

The UCC – Calgary branch also issued thanks for the support from global and Canadian leaders in response to the White House attack, including the prime minister, foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, Block Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and others.

Sunday’s rally is called “Ukraine is not for sale.”

It starts at 1:30 p.m. at Municipal Plaza at City Hall.

With files from CTV’s Alesia Fieldberg and CTV Edmonton