The war between Russia and Ukraine has dominated the news lately, with the United States seeking a deal that would end the bloodshed.  

And on Sunday in San Francisco, local Ukrainians gathered for their annual Independence Day celebration and concert, even as they anxiously watch to see what the Trump administration's next move will be.

Modern-day Ukrainians mark Aug. 24 as Independence Day. That's the date in 1991 when the country overwhelmingly voted to separate from the crumbling Soviet Union and become a free and democratic nation.   

But this year it comes when the country is, once again, fighting for its life.  

Melanie McCutchan is Advocacy Chair of the Ukrainian National Women's League.

"Ukraine has been struggling for freedom for centuries," she said.  "And this last, very serious Russian invasion, started in 2014, really, but the full-scale invasion started in 2022, is really just another example of Russia trying to colonize Ukraine and destroy Ukraine as a free, independent, sovereign people."

The celebration included plenty of traditional dancing, but much of the music at the Golden Gate Park concert had an air of sadness to it, symbolic of a people whose fight for freedom has come at a terrible cost.  

Nine-year-old Daria Turiv sang an Independence Day song about her ancestral homeland that she has only visited once, as a baby.

"Well, I mean, older kids might think what is going on. But for me, it's happy," she said. "You know how, like, the war in Ukraine right now, it's really sad, so people are singing and doing stuff for the war to end."

It is the older people, some who immigrated here in the 1940s to escape Stalin's oppression, that see this latest invasion as an ongoing fight for survival.  

"Sixty years in the United States and I am grateful for every day here to God," said Father Roman Bobesiuk, a pastor at two Bay Area Ukrainian churches.

He read a prayer expressing thanks for the refuge that America has been for so many Ukrainians.

"We are grateful to God and grateful to all people of the United States of America for support, for help," he said. "It's very important to be united and to know that someone is with you. Because only in unity, only with God, only with prayer, we can overcome this evil."

In the Bay Area, Ukrainian protests, or gatherings of any kind, are usually full of thanks to the United States, even playing the American national anthem at Sunday's concert.  

The Ukrainians know that their fate may rest with the ability to get arms from the United States. And the current feeling is hope, mixed with concern, that their security should not be contingent on giving away part of their homeland to get it.

"It's not a choice between peace and appeasement," said McCutchan, "because appeasement will not lead to peace. The only thing that will lead to peace is strength.  And that's making sure that Ukraine has the arms it needs to defend itself and the security guarantees from European allies and the United States to deter Russian aggression." 

Mr. Trump has said repeatedly that he wants an agreement to stop the bloodshed. The Ukrainians are relying on that, but they want him to also know that, in the end, this is not a real estate deal.