RIVER NORTH —Thousands gathered at Water Tower Place Sunday in support of Ukraine, two days after a combative meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

Demonstrators adorned themselves with blue-and-yellow Ukraine flags, singing both the American and Ukrainian national anthems and chanting, “Save Ukraine, save the world!” and “Russia is a terrorist state!”

Those at the rally urged the United States to support Ukraine in ending the war with Russia, which began just over three years ago when Russia launched its full-scale invasion that has killed thousands and displaced millions.

The demonstration came after a contentious meeting between Trump and Zelensky last week that called into question the United State’s support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion.

During a rare televised meeting at the White House on Friday, Trump and Zelensky were supposed to sign an agreement giving the United States a cut of revenue from Ukraine’s natural resources, but the discussion soon became accusatory and no agreement was signed. Trump and Vice President JD Vance charged that Zelensky was prolonging the war and ungrateful for American support. Zelensky said that Ukraine needs a security guarantee from the U.S. because it doesn’t trust Russia to adhere to a ceasefire agreement.

Sunday’s rally was planned by the Illinois division of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. Sen. Dick Durbin, Rep. Delia Ramirez and Rep. Mike Quigley attended. After the speakers finished, demonstrators marched south on Michigan Avenue.

“Friday’s fiasco at the White House just shook us to our core,” said Natalie, a first-generation Ukrainian American who showed up to the rally with her friends. She grew up in Ukrainian culture, attending Ukrainian language schools and churches, and has family in western Ukraine who live under the daily threat of bombing.

“We are so glad to see so many people out here with us, not just Ukrainians but Chicagoans and Americans realizing that this isn’t just an issue affecting Ukraine,” Natalie said. “It’s affecting the standing of the United States. We’re no longer a global leader for democracy and that is shocking.”

Chicago has one of the largest Ukrainian populations in the country. One hundred thousand Ukrainians live in the Chicagoland area, with 10,000 in Ukrainian Village. More than 30,000 refugees have settled in the city and the suburbs.

Maria Klimchak, executive director of the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America, said that Trump treated Zelensky disrespectfully, “as if he were in kindergarten.” Klimchak spent the past week in Ukraine supporting veterans with rehabilitation and university education. She said that each day in Kyiv, there were sirens from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

“I would like Mr. Trump to go there for the tour and see what it looks like,” Klimchak said.

The war began on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, following eight years of aggression at its eastern border due to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. According to the Council on Foreign Relations , Russia continues to occupy about 20 percent of Ukraine.

More than 40,000 Ukrainian civilians have died in the Russia-Ukraine War, while four million are internally displaced and nearly seven million have fled the country.

Under President Joe Biden, the United States was a critical ally to Ukraine, providing billions in foreign aid, including weaponry.

But under Trump, the U.S. has done an about-face, viewing the assistance as potential waste and eager to reinitiate an economic relationship with Russia after years of sanctions. In February, Trump’s negotiating team met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia without inviting Ukraine or other European nations. And in recent votes at the United Nations, the U.S. voted counter to NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) colleagues in resolutions condemning Russia’s actions, signaling a willingness to align with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine has long sought membership in NATO, which was founded in 1949 as a barrier to Soviet Russia’s expansion into Europe. NATO members generally agree to back each other militarily if one member nation is attacked. Zelensky has even said that he would step down as president as a condition to joining NATO.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said that he doesn’t believe NATO membership for Ukraine is a “realistic outcome” and that the U.S. would not agree to any security guarantees that would send troops to assist Ukraine if attacked.

Trump has threatened to pull the U.S. out of NATO, which Sen. Durbin said Sunday would be “the most disastrous development in American foreign policy since World War II.”

“The US should be standing with NATO, not attacking it,” Durbin said. “To think that this president is going to embrace Vladimir Putin is an outrage. “

On Sunday, the United Kingdom and France agreed to work on a ceasefire plan with Ukraine and present it to the U.S. Other European leaders have spoken out in support of Ukraine following the failed White House meeting.

“When Ukraine is under attack, all of us are under attack,” Rep. Ramirez said. “As I watched that video, I got emotional. I thought, ‘How could I be part of a country that I have called home my entire life and have a president — with his terrible vice president and with the secretary of state — watch what is happening and do nothing?’”

“As a Guatemalan American, I stand with Ukraine today,” Ramirez added. “We must defend its democracy because it’s interconnected with our democracy. Know that as long as Congressman Quigley and Senator Durbin and myself and the rest of the Democratic delegation is around, we will not allow a dictator — I know you’re wondering which one I’m talking about, maybe both — to negate the livelihood of Ukrainians.”