{"id":3836,"date":"2025-03-15T00:01:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T00:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/i-cant-sit-and-watch-it-us-volunteers-join-ukrainian-army-after-trumps-sharp-policy-turn\/"},"modified":"2025-03-15T00:01:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T00:01:06","slug":"i-cant-sit-and-watch-it-us-volunteers-join-ukrainian-army-after-trumps-sharp-policy-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euro-tv.ro\/news\/i-cant-sit-and-watch-it-us-volunteers-join-ukrainian-army-after-trumps-sharp-policy-turn\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I can\u2019t sit and watch it\u2019 \u2013 US volunteers join Ukrainian army after Trump\u2019s sharp policy turn"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Editor\u2019s note: Soldiers interviewed for this article are identified only by their first name, callsign, or nickname due to security reasons. <\/em><\/p>\n

William, a 25-year-old U.S. Army veteran, has come to Ukraine to join the Ukrainian military in its fight against Russian aggression just days after his contract with the U.S. military ended in March.<\/p>\n

The artilleryman\u2019s original plan was to come here in summer, but as the new U.S. President Donald Trump made a dramatic U-turn in Ukraine policy<\/a>, the need to travel to the war-torn country felt more urgent. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s frustrating to sit around doing nothing when you know you can do something right,\u201d William told the Kyiv Independent a day before leaving for Ukraine. <\/p>\n

William says he has felt drawn to Ukraine ever since the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution<\/a> in Kyiv. As a high school student in Tennessee, he was moved by the Ukrainian uprising against a pro-Russian, anti-Western regime.<\/p>\n

He is among the many Americans<\/a> who have decided to join the Ukrainian army during the full-scale invasion, especially after the heated exchange between Trump<\/a>, his Vice President JD Vance<\/a> and President Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> at the Oval Office<\/a> on Feb. 28. In the following week, the U.S. abruptly suspended its military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine \u2013 before resuming it this week. However, the U.S.\u2019 increasing alignment with Russia continues to cast doubt<\/a> on the future of its support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

One of the most elite Ukrainian units accepting foreign volunteers received \u201ca massive spike\u201d of applications, according to an international serviceman involved in recruiting. The source, who spoke anonymously due to his unit\u2019s regulations, said that a few thousand applications came in after the Oval Office meeting, with \u201ca significant amount of guys expressing outrage and shock over what has been happening with the shift in American policy<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

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U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Feb. 28, 2025. (Photo by Saul Loeb\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another recruit, Ron, \u00a0who was previously deployed in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army, said he contacted the Ukrainian military as soon as Trump took office and the U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing bans were set forth. Feeling \u201cembarrassed by my country,\u201d the American exit in supporting Ukraine \u201csealed it for me\u201d to come fight in Ukraine, the 35-year-old Colorado native explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cI’m a patriot. I love my country. But the people who are in charge of it right now are destroying it, just destroying what it should stand for,\u201d Ron told the Kyiv Independent a month before his departure for Ukraine. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s an absolute shame to me. I just can’t sit by and watch it happen anymore, especially when the people of Ukraine are so freaking brave, and they’re doing such great work with the limited equipment we have given them.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Ron said he was \u201cshocked\u201d that Trump was reelected as the president, he, like some other American recruits, also cautiously hoped that \u201cmaybe he would actually do the right thing on Ukraine.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut that first month of him in the office just completely shattered any illusion of that for me,\u201d Ron said. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
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\u2018He betrayed every one of us\u2019 \u2013 US soldiers in Ukraine speak out after Trump\u2019s military aid halt<\/div>\n
Editor\u2019s note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. American volunteer soldiers fighting in Ukraine say that they feel \u201cbetrayed\u201d by their own country after the U.S. halted military aid\u2026<\/div>\n
\"\u2018IThe Kyiv Independent<\/span>Asami Terajima<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\u2018I<\/div>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s just selfish and only wants quick fixes,\u201d Ron added, referring to the U.S. trying to pressure Ukraine into a rushed peace deal to end the war at any cost. Trump has pledged to end the war quickly<\/a>, resuming the long-frozen diplomacy with Russia and priding himself on having a \u201cvery close relationship\u201d with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s America-first policy has also left European nations on alert. Media reports have suggested<\/a> that he is considering a dramatic shift in the U.S.\u2019s involvement in NATO, refusing to defend another member state as part of Article 5 if it doesn\u2019t meet the defense spending threshold. <\/p>\n

Worried that the U.S. could eventually completely abandon Europe, Ron said he decided that he needs to do his part to avoid what he believes could be \u201ca general war in Europe with Russia\u201d in the near future. <\/p>\n

A former U.S. Army Cavalry Scout, who goes by his callsign Juggernaut, also said he \u201cfelt sick to the stomach\u201d after seeing the U.S. decreasing its support for Ukraine despite Russia\u2019s horrific war crimes against civilians across the country. <\/p>\n

He finished his seven-year contract with the U.S. Army a week after Trump\u2019s inauguration. He came over to Ukraine in February and is currently awaiting training with a Ukrainian unit. <\/p>\n

Although he voted for Trump in 2024, the 28-year-old Hawaii resident said he felt \u201creally disappointed\u201d in his leadership even though he understands the America-first policy. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe only have so long on this earth, and worrying about ourselves isn\u2019t going to bring us any gratification at the end of our lives,\u201d Juggernaut told the Kyiv Independent from eastern Ukraine. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n

He said that his fear of coming here and \u201cdying for no reason\u201d faded when he arrived in Ukraine and saw first-hand what the country and its people were going through.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of stopped thinking like that because I’m a spiritual person, and it made me sick to my stomach, the idea of Russians taking over this country and these people here suffering even more than they already have,\u201d Juggernaut said. <\/p>\n

A 40-year-old father and lawyer from Texas, who introduced himself as Esquire, is another recruit waiting in Kyiv to join the Ukrainian military. While he has no prior army experience, he said he made the decision to enlist because he did not want to live for the rest of his days knowing he was \u201ca coward.\u201d <\/p>\n

Esquire wonders if his two kids and his wife, who begged him not to go, would ever forgive him for making what everyone back home believed would be \u201ca meaningful sacrifice,\u201d but he stressed that he could not just watch the world turn upside down. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel betrayed, sickened, and like my country is no longer what I thought it was,\u201d Esquire told the Kyiv Independent at a cafe in Kyiv. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mourn my country like I mourn a dead friend.\u201d<\/p>\n