Trump Compared to Soviet Secret Police By Former Anti-Communist Political Prisoners: 'Shocked Zelenskyy Treated in the Same Way'

Multiple former prisoners of the Soviet Union's communist regime have written a letter addressing the recent meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, expressing sharp disdain over how the meeting was conducted.

The letter was posted to Facebook by 81-year-old Polish anti-communist advocate Lech Wałęsa, following the Trump administration's decision to suspend aid to Ukraine. It has been signed by 38 other Polish former prisoners of the Soviet Union.

"Gratitude is due to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the frontline for more than 11 years in the name of these values and independence of their Homeland, which was attacked by Putin's Russia," the letter read, addressing Trump directly.

"We do not understand how the leader of a country that is the symbol of the free world cannot see it," the letter continued.

In the letter, Wałęsa and the other former political prisoners compared the Trump administration's words to those of Soviet police.

"Our panic was also caused by the fact that the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation reminded us of one we remember well from Security Service interrogations and from the debate rooms in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges at the behest of the all-powerful communist political police also explained to us that they hold all the cards and we hold none," the letter read, noting a phrase Trump told Zelenskyy during the meeting.

"They demanded us to stop our business, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffer because of us. They deprived us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government and our gratitude. We are shocked that Mr. President Volodymyr [Zelenskyy] treated in the same way," the letter continued.

Wałęsa, who previously served as the president of Poland, expressed that he found Trump's conduct during the meeting with Zelenskyy last Friday to be "distasteful," sharing that he himself had met Trump at Mar-a-Lago more than a decade ago in 2010.

Trump's conduct during his meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday has been widely criticized over the way the Ukrainian president was treated by both the 47th president and Vice President JD Vance. The U.S. leaders berated Zelenskyy for not showing sufficient gratitude for the aid Ukraine has received from the U.S., repeatedly calling him disrespectful and remaining silent as a reporter ripped into his attire.

"Mr. President, material aid - military and financial - cannot be equivalent to the blood shed in the name of independence and freedom of Ukraine, Europe, as well as the whole free world," the letter continues. "Human life is priceless, its value cannot be measured with money. Gratitude is due to those who make the sacrifice of blood and freedom. It is obvious for us, the people of 'Solidarity,' former political prisoners of the communist regime serving Soviet Russia."