San Diegans host rally for Ukraine following President Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House today to discuss ending the war with Russia.

“Because of my relationship with President Putin, I thought this would be very quick,” Trump said.

Supporters of Ukraine say the war has gone on too long, and they’re asking for sanctions against Russia to put a stop to the fighting.

“I’m Ukranian by choice,” said Craig Gresbrink, the chief development officer of Shield of Freedom, an organization in San Diego that supports people affected by the war.

Even with no ties to Ukraine, Gresbrink continues to protest for an end to the war between the two countries.

“If you don’t protest evil, you’re an accomplice to it," he said.

More than three years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Zelenskyy requested long-range missiles along with other military assets to bring Putin to the negotiating table.

“He really doesn’t want, and he doesn’t feel full pressure on him,” Zelenskyy said.

He says Ukraine wouldn’t use the missiles on civilians, but Trump still hesitated to grant that request.

“We need tomahawks for the United States of America, too. We have a lot of them, but we need them,” Trump said.

But, protesters like Robert Mucha disagreed with that reasoning.

“We personally are not going to use those weapons because we’re living in peace, but if the Ukrainian people need it to defend themselves against the imminent tyranny of Vladimir Putin, I say let’s help them out as much as possible,” Mucha said.

Trump adds using powerful weapons like tomahawks that could fire into Russian territory, potentially as far as Moscow, could escalate the war.

“I’m real big on peace through strength," Gresbrink said. "Putin’s been escalating this whole time.”

In a Truth Social post, Trump says the meeting was cordial, and 'they should stop where they are,' calling for both Russia and Ukraine to put an end to the bloodshed.

“If President Trump and Zelenskyy came out on friendly terms this time around maybe it was productive,” Mucha said.

While skeptical, Trump didn’t rule out the possibility of sending the weapons.

“I’d say look if this war’s not gonna get settled, I’m gonna send them tomahawks,” Trump said.

Gresbrink says the recent ceasefire deal in the Middle East gives them hope for an end to this war, and he says they’re going to continue protesting until they see that day.

“War is unpredictable, and the longer we let evil fester, the more chance evil has to come up with ways to improve it’s situation,” he said.

Trump spoke with Putin in a lengthy call on Thursday, and says he plans to meet with Putin in Budapest within the next two weeks.