USA: Council of Ukrainian Christian Churches of Washington State calls for increased pressure on Russia
The Council of Ukrainian Christian Churches of Washington State has joined the ongoing public discussion on peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, initiated by Russia’s aggressive invasion. Ukrainian religious leaders have addressed a letter to President Donald Trump and other senior U.S. officials, drawing attention to key approaches that can help bring an end to the Russian aggression and establish a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
We invite you to read the full text of the Council of Churches’ letter to President Donald Trump.
To: The Honorable DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States
Dear Mr. President,
On behalf of the Council of Ukrainian Christian Churches of the State of Washington, I would like to express my deep respect and gratitude for your persistent efforts aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine.
Representing the views of Ukrainian Americans – your constituents – we support your position aimed at compelling Russia and its leader, President Vladimir Putin, to an unconditional ceasefire. The root cause of this senseless war of aggression lies in Moscow, where the decision was made to launch a conflict that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian defenders and tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians, destroyed more than 700 churches and religious sites, and caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the heart of Europe.
Russia started this war, and it is Russia that determines when the ongoing bloodshed and destruction will end. Ukraine seeks peace; however, Russia seeks to destroy Ukraine as a state and to annihilate Ukrainians as a nation and an ethnic group.
This war bears clear hallmarks of genocide against Ukrainians, which Russia has committed before, in 1932–1933, by provoking an artificial famine (the Holodomor) in Ukrainian lands. Under these circumstances, it is the Russian leadership that must be subjected to pressure from the international community, since Russian war crimes and the crime of genocide against Ukrainians must be stopped through the coercive power of the democratic West. The United States can play a key role in this process thanks to your leadership.
The sanctions you have imposed on the leading Russian oil-producing companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, will significantly limit Russia’s revenues in the near future, which are used to finance its military aggression. Such economic pressure from the United States and its European allies must only be intensified to compel the Kremlin to abandon its expansionist and genocidal plans against Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Christian community of Washington State is also convinced that a stable and lasting peace is possible if Ukraine is provided with legal security guarantees. Thanks to unwavering and comprehensive military support for Ukraine from the United States, the current hostilities can be brought to an end and never resume. Your firm stance, which involves pressing Russia to make genuine concessions and agree to an unconditional ceasefire, is the key to an effective peace process that can begin thereafter.
At present, Russia’s “voice,” which demonstrates its lack of desire for peace and a ceasefire, is heard loudly in the hundreds of missiles and explosive drones that every day take the lives of Ukrainian civilians and destroy their homes, power plants, hospitals, and churches.
By contrast, millions of innocent Ukrainians are crying out for help to their most powerful ally, the United States. And we believe that the American people have a moral duty and a historic mission to help democratic Ukraine endure and prevail—to defend a world order based on international law and justice.
We pray for the success of your peace initiatives, which will bring a just peace to Ukraine and to the entire world.
We are also grateful to the First Lady, Melania Trump, for her extraordinarily important humanitarian efforts aimed at securing the return to Ukraine of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
God bless America!
With prayers for you and best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving,
Pastor Oleksandr Savchuk
Chair at the Council of Ukrainian Christian Churches of Washington State,
Pastor at Revival Church in Edgewood, WA
and the Council members:
Viktor Prokhor, Senior Pastor of Life Christian Church in Tacoma, WA
Alex Gritsayuk, Head Pastor at Evangelical Baptist Church of Kent, WA
Andriy Matlak, Priest at the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Parish in Seattle, WA
Andrii Oliinyk , Priest at the parish of Zarvanytska Mother of God of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Seattle, WA
Vasiliy Galanesi, Senior Pastor at the Ukrainian Full Gospel Pentecostal Church in Tacoma, WA
Vladimir Monich, Senior Pastor at Sulamita Slavic Pentecostal Church in Mukilteo, WA
Roman Gorbachevskiy, Senior Pastor at Life of Victory Church in Renton, WA
Serhiy Onyshchuk, Pastor at Light of Hope Church in Marysville, WA
Paul Demyanik, Pastor at Ark Ukrainian Baptist Church in Vancouver, WA
Fedir Kozak, Senior Pastor at the First Ukrainian Pentecostal Church of Renton, WA
Vasiliy Papirnik, Senior Pastor at Seattle Bethany Church
Roman Melnik, Pastor at Bread of Life Church in Kent, WA
Ivan Khrypta, Pastor at Zion Church in Edgewood, WA
Mykola Budnik, Pastor at the Slavic Christian Church Awakening in Mukilteo, WA
Myroslav Mashika, Secretary at the Western Ukrainian Baptist Convention, Deacon at the First Ukrainian Baptist Church of Seattle
Alex Bogomaz, Main Pastor of the Voice of Hope Church in Federal Way, WA
Pavlo Marchenko, Pastor at UChurch in Puyallup, WA
Oleksandr Zlamaniuk, Pastor at the Church of Grace in Renton, WA
(Quelle: www.risu.ua, 3. Dezember 2025)