SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The Trump administration has set a goal of a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine. Negotiations continued this week, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the G7 meeting yesterday...
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MARCO RUBIO: Suffice it to say, I think there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. But by the same token, we continue to recognize this is a difficult and complex situation. It will not be easy. It will not be simple.
SIMON: But despite peace talks, many Ukrainians in the United States who are here under the Temporary Protected Status program, or TPS, are reluctant to return home. President Trump has raised the possibility of revoking that program. We spoke to one refugee who fled western Ukraine, along with her husband and three young children last year. Natalie Matiisiv said that unrelenting Russian strikes have made life in Ukraine too dangerous.
NATALIE MATIISIV: The Russians were hitting us all the time, lots of explosions. They were hitting the power plants, and every day, we didn't have electricity for 10 hours. And even when kids were going to school, and there was alarm, they had to go to bomb shelter and study there. The same thing about me. I was at workplace, and when there was alarm, we had to go to the bomb shelter. And I was scared all the time when I was in the one bomb shelter and my kids were in the other one, praying for everything will be good. And then we decided just to move from Ukraine because it becomes very difficult.
SIMON: Was it hard to leave, hard to get out?
MATIISIV: Yeah, pretty much because we left my parents and my husband's parents there - my sister. But we decided that it will be better place for us to live. My kids couldn't even sleep at night. They were, all the time, afraid of sounds and of everything what was going on.
SIMON: You're in DeWitt, Iowa, now. How do you like Iowa?
MATIISIV: I like it very much. The climate is the same like in Ukraine, and it's so nice. It's so quiet. It's so pleasant here. And, you know, our first movie we saw it was "Field Of Heaven."
SIMON: "Field Of Dreams," the baseball movie in the Iowa farm field, yes - Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, it's a great film.
MATIISIV: Yeah, yeah, yeah, "Field Of Dreams." Yeah, I'm sorry. We love it so much. And there was a phrase - are you in heaven? No, I'm in Iowa.
SIMON: Yes, most famous line from the film.
MATIISIV: Yeah. We really like it very much.
SIMON: How's your family doing? How are you putting food on the table, working?
MATIISIV: Thanks to the volunteer organization that help us to come to DeWitt, and they gave us a home, all equipments and groceries. When we first came, we lived without jobs. I mean, we were filing all the documents, passing the drivers exams. And then we were looking for jobs. My husband, he was working actually in Ukraine as cabinetmaker, and now he's making cabinets here in U.S. I'm working just, like, a receptionist in a company.
SIMON: How are your children doing?
MATIISIV: They are doing great, and it's just because they have a nice and friendly people around them. They don't know English very well, and it was very difficult for them to go to American school. So my kids are going to a Catholic school, and they've got a school mass. And on the first mass, I decided to go. And when my youngest son saw me, he was crying, and the guy from his class just came to him, hug him and said, everything will be OK. And I was crying, too. And I realized that the language of love is the same everywhere. It doesn't matter do you speak English or not. And I was very surprised how kids are friendly and care about my kids.
SIMON: President Trump is considering revoking the legal status of about 240,000 Ukrainian refugees who are now in the United States.
MATIISIV: Yeah, and that a horrible thing. We just started our life here, and I don't want to lose it, really. Beside, the war hasn't ended in Ukraine yet.
SIMON: If there were a peace agreement, would you want to go back?
MATIISIV: Truly, to say no. I feel a better life here, really. It's a life with new opportunities, and Ukraine, there is no opportunities because how could we survive there? There is no opportunity to work, so the times are very difficult.
SIMON: What about President Trump's argument - it's good to have agreement with Russia, and it's good for the fighting to stop, and America has no special obligation to help Ukrainians?
MATIISIV: Actually, there was 1994 signed one, no?
SIMON: I mean, we should explain the agreement you're referring to is sometimes called the Budapest Memorandum.
MATIISIV: Yeah, it was about guarantees of securities if somebody can invade Ukraine, that we gave our weapon back because we were assured that if something will happen to us, U.S. will come and help us.
SIMON: It was Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine had all given up nuclear weapons from the old Soviet Union.
MATIISIV: Yeah. I was only 7 years old. It was shown on TV everywhere that we are so glad that U.S. will help us. We really lived and we were taught in history lessons that U.S. is the most powerful country, our older brother, and we can rely on U.S. So that's why we are so maybe confused about the changing of policy because for Russians, U.S. is the main enemy. And if they just write an agreement with U.S., they pretend to have in peace. We've got, actually, a couple of agreements, and they invaded Ukraine again. I can't believe them. They show that they are lying all the time.
SIMON: I don't know if President Trump is listening to us, but have anything you'd like to say to him?
MATIISIV: I wanted to say that Ukrainians are very kind, hard-working people, and they will bring only good things to U.S. We buy houses. We pay taxes. We buy cars. Mr. President, please, don't revoke the status for those Ukrainians that are already in U.S.
SIMON: Natalie Matiisiv is a Ukrainian refugee who now lives in DeWitt, Iowa. Thank you so much for being with us.
MATIISIV: Thank you so much for hearing me.
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