Peace, not war, is the message Albuquerque residents with family and friends in Ukraine shared at a recent demonstration, KRQE reported.
“Tensions have become too great to not say anything," Stephan Welhasch from Ukrainian-Americans of New Mexico told KRQE. "If we don’t say anything, then we’re complicit. If we do say something, maybe the world will listen. We don't want war; we want peace, like every country in the world wants peace and freedom."
A Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen at any time, the White House said, although Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country has no plans to invade, according to KRQE.
All Ukrainians want is to exist peacefully and live independently in Eastern Europe, the Albuquerque demonstrators said.
There are not many Ukrainians in New Mexico, but those attending the Albuquerque rally felt obligated to use their voices to speak out about Russia, KRQE reported.
The group Ukrainian Americans of New Mexico recognizes and supports "the contributions that Americans of Ukrainian ancestry have made and continue to make for the wellbeing and prosperity of New Mexico," its website said. It also helps Ukrainian-Americans develop their professional skills "for the betterment of the culture and economy of New Mexico."
Ukraine gained its independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, according to the CIA's World FactBook.
In 2014, Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, "falsely claiming the action was to protect ethnic Russians living there," the FactBook said.
