PHOENIX (AZFamily/AP) — Ukrainians living in the Valley are processing the heated exchange at the White House between President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Irene Amrine was born and raised in Ukraine but now lives in the Valley. Since Russia’s invasion back in 2022, she’s been doing what she can here to help her friends and family still in Ukraine.

“Events, fundraising and political advocacy,” Amrine said. “Ukraine has been holding the front for the last three years, and we do have support from our allies. (The) U.S. is one of Ukraine’s major allies.”

Hoping for the day the war comes to an end, she along with other Valley Ukrainians tuned into the meeting where it took an unexpected turn.

RELATED COVERAGE: Ukraine supporters rally in Phoenix as negotiations to end the war continue

The astonishing turn of events could scramble affairs in Europe and around the globe. During his visit with Trump, Zelenskyy was expected to sign the deal allowing the U.S. greater access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and hold a joint news conference, but that plan was scrapped after the heated engagement between the leaders in front of the news media.

“You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have,” Trump told Zelenskyy.

Despite the way things turned out, Amrine is confident that U.S. and Ukraine relations are still strong.

“Everybody just needs to take a big breath and exhale and just process what just happened and put it behind them and you know move forward,” she said.

Reaction from Arizona lawmakers

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The Arizona Cardinals had more than one hole in their offense in 2024.

Plenty has already been made about WR Marvin Harrison Jr.’s underwhelming rookie season, and the overall meager passing results from QB Kyler Murray in offensive coordinator Drew Petzing’s scheme.

But one overlooked position on the offense this past season was the role of slot receiver. While starting slot man Greg Dortch has certainly shown plenty of ability in years past, he was only afforded 310 snaps on the year, 206 in the slot itself.

He only had 342 yards to show for it, and 144 of those yards came in the final four weeks of the season.

Again, this isn’t a total knock on Dortch as a player. He rightfully earned the starting slot role with some excellent performances in very limited action in 2022 and 2023.

But the Cardinals’ utilization of the slot position as a whole was a bit unconventional. Rather than sticking with the speedy, agile Dortch (despite naming him the starter), the Cardinals gave 340 slot snaps to Harrison and Michael Wilson.

Then, there’s the elephant in the room. Star TE Trey McBride took 303 snaps in the slot, as opposed to only 233 as the inline tight end.

I know, I know. If it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it. But the truth is, seeing more production out of a true slot receiver could actually help McBride unlock some higher quality looks, especially out of an inline set.

And the inverse is also true. The more snaps McBride gets as an inline tight end, the more opportunity there will likely be for whoever mans the slot position next to him.

Now, think about what that means. Could it mean a bigger year for Dortch (if Arizona chooses to re-sign him), or whoever they might consider upgrading at the position? Sure.

It also opens opportunities for others.

Wilson and Harrison could see production benefit highly if McBride isn’t the one lining up in the slot every time. For receivers who might have more of an agility-based skillset than a lightning fast one, the middle of the field offers many opportunities, especially if the biggest star on the field is bringing confusion to the coverage.

Again, this doesn’t mean the Cardinals should limit or change McBride’s role, but drawing up more plays for a top-end receiver in the slot can help draw DBs away from the star, or even pull linebackers away on rushing or play-action downs.

While Petzing doesn’t spread his receivers out often, it could be an aspect of his scheme that would help unlock the potential of all involved, or even bring more monstrous numbers to McBride’s resume.

Arizona could re-sign Dortch, bring in an external option, or simply utilize the slot position more by giving Harrison and Wilson more looks there.

It might not be a point of emphasis, but it can only help expand Arizona’s playbook, and could get more quality looks for their stars, making life easier on Murray in the process as well.

The NFLPA report card may be the best thing that could happen to the Arizona Cardinals.

Sure, it makes it look like the franchise is not run well, but it also is the most public criticism from those within the company we can see.

So, when the grades came out this week, and it was bad, it made sense that the Cardinals dropped their first information on the $100 million plan to upgrade things.

Josh Weinfuss broke it down well:

– Arizona wasn’t planning on announcing the renovation on Wednesday but the NFLPA’s team report card pushed their hand a bit.

– The Cardinals are still in the very early phases of the project, as in I’ve heard ground hasn’t been broken yet.

– The team is acutely aware of where its deficiencies are: facilities. The grade for its cafeteria dropped from a D to a D-. Its locker room dropped from F to F-. The training room went from a C- to a D-. And the weight room from a C- to a F.

– As one source said to me, so many young players on the Cardinals roster are used to the luxurious facilities they came from in college, where they didn’t have to wait to use a machine in the weight room or could get custom meals.

– One young player last season told me it was “weird” to see the Cardinals’ facilities compared what he had in college.

It goes to something we have been discussing, that this is all reactionary, with little to no vision for the immediate or the future.

Again, the last update was a $15 million investment in 2015, for a building that was built in 1990.

Even the $100 million earmarked is going to be interesting to see how it is fleshed out.

For instance, are they spending $100 million on the practice facility? Think about the Georgia Bulldogs spending $80 million on their football facility, Oregon spending over $68 million on their facility.

So, will that money be towards the Tempe facility, or also used to create an actual locker room for the home team?

Of course, as we asked yesterday, who will even be around to reap the benefits of the upgrades? 2027 means at the Cardinals normal pace, they’ll have a new coach and a lot of roster turnover.

Hopefully the one positive on the Cardinals NFLPA grades, Jonathan Gannon is able to continue to be here and will see the improvements.