海角大神

Has Ukraine expressed sufficient gratitude to the American people for all the support they have provided since Russia鈥檚 full-scale invasion in February 2022?

The question has lingered since the NATO summit in Lithuania in July, when a nettled White House official fumed at a public forum, 鈥淭he American people do deserve a degree of gratitude.鈥�

National security adviser Jake Sullivan was responding to Ukrainian criticism 鈥� including from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 鈥� of NATO鈥檚 refusal to admit the Eastern European nation.

Mr. Sullivan鈥檚 comment took me to the Ukraine reporting trip I had just wrapped up 鈥� and in particular to one bountiful meal offered by a farmer and his wife.

During the trip, I鈥檇 occasionally received a 鈥渢hank you to America!鈥� when people learned where I was from. One soldier in the embattled Donetsk region expressed his gratitude for a particularly effective American rocket launcher by simply exclaiming 鈥淗IMARS!鈥� 鈥� accompanied by a thumbs-up. A street vendor who sells a mix of T-shirts, military paraphernalia, and patriotic Ukrainian gear proudly pointed me to the pins with the American and Ukrainian flags. 鈥淯kraine loves America,鈥� she said. 鈥淎merica is the reason we can fight for our freedom.鈥� 聽

Even President Zelenskyy seems to have gotten the gratitude message from his own people. To mark America鈥檚 Independence Day, he penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he proclaimed, 鈥淯kraine is grateful to the U.S. for providing both support for and an example of liberty.鈥�

But it was dinner at the farm of Serhii and Tetiana Khoroschiak in the southern Mykolaiv region that showed me just how grateful Ukrainians are.

I had met the Khoroschiaks on a reporting trip last year, interviewing them for a story on Ukraine鈥檚 role as a global breadbasket. They had even invited me and the Monitor鈥檚 Ukrainian reporting assistant, Oleksandr Naselenko, to their son鈥檚 wedding lunch.

This year Oleksandr had called ahead to say we鈥檇 be passing through after reporting in the adjacent Kherson region on the catastrophic destruction of a major hydroelectric dam. Could we stop by to say hello? The invitation was instant.

When we arrived for dinner, the table was spread with a half-dozen kinds of fish, various meats, numerous salads, and potato dishes. The conversation was warm, even loudly humorous.

I do recall at one point hearing a specific 鈥渢hank you鈥� to America for everything it is doing for Ukraine. But it wasn鈥檛 really necessary. The meal, the warmth, and the hearty hugs said it all.

To read more of Howard鈥檚 reporting from Ukraine and the Monitor鈥檚 full coverage of the war, visit www.CSMonitor.com/UkraineConflict.