Ukrainian officials remain determinedly upbeat in comments on the new US push to end the war with Russia, but people in Kyiv fear that a deal would strongly favour Moscow, impose unacceptable terms on Ukraine and fail to prevent any future Kremlin aggression.
“It’s a total betrayal of Ukraine’s interests by the United States,” Lyudmyla, who lives in central Kyiv, says of a 28-point plan presented last week by Washington, which Ukraine and many European states viewed as little more than a list of Russian demands.
“I think the war should end but not at any price. [Vladimir] Putin should not get everything he wants,” she adds, referring to Russia’s autocratic leader of 25 years.
“America is not helping Ukraine now – it is working in the interests of Russia. Maybe we will have to make concessions, but it depends what they are. We cannot accept humiliation.”
RM Block
Kyiv and European capitals say the 28-point plan was heavily revised during talks in Geneva on Sunday to remove some of Russia’s most onerous conditions – but the Kremlin continues to back the original proposals and warns that it will not accept significant changes.
“Maybe a positive outcome is theoretically possible. But I think it’s more likely to end up with another ceasefire rather than a definitive settlement. With this formula, the war will be frozen for a while and then restart,” says Alex, another resident of Kyiv.
He believes US president Donald Trump – who claims that a peace deal is “very close” and has ordered his Kremlin-friendly envoy Steve Witkoff to visit Russia for talks next week – is “basically working for himself: Trump loves Trump”.
Alex thinks it is impossible to say whether Ukraine should make concessions to end the war – such as abandoning territory still held in the eastern Donetsk region, accepting de facto Russian control of about 20 per cent of the country, or abandoning hope of joining Nato – without seeing the full plan and all its conditions.
“Unfortunately, Ukraine can’t win without military help,” he says, “and as far I know there is a threat that [the US] might stop financing us and giving us weapons”.
[ Daniel McLaughlin in Ukraine: City waits for a peace deal, or for Russian troopsOpens in new window ]
Valeriya Haiduchok, who helps soldiers find apartments in Kyiv, says she does not follow politics closely “because it makes me really pissed off”.
“It feels like [a deal] is getting closer but the pressure is really high. It’s so painful because I’m working with soldiers and I know they are dying,” she says.
“I guess we’ve been living in this condition for nearly four years – hope for the best but be ready for the worst,” she adds, hours after another wave of Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv killed at least seven civilians and wounded 20.
“We’ve been fighting for our history and everything. If they want to make Russian the second official language here and change our politics ... then it’s awful. It’s better to keep fighting than let them take this away from us.”
[ Daniel McLaughlin in Ukraine: Civilians flee as danger zone spreadsOpens in new window ]
Vasyl Filiak, from the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, suspects Trump is “working for himself, for the United States, for money – he wants to get as much out of this as possible.
“Russia won’t abide by this plan. It won’t stop and the war will continue,” he says. “Perhaps we could make concessions but where are the guarantees that the war won’t restart? This is not our first war with Russia.”
Anastasiya, who is visiting Kyiv from the eastern city of Dnipro, does not expect the talks to end with a positive outcome for Ukraine.
“I don’t really trust the authorities – neither the Ukrainian nor the American,” she says.
“I think we’ll have to make some concessions. We are running out of people. Some territory is already lost, but we are still alive and want to keep living, and we don’t want all our fathers and husbands to go to war,” says her friend Viktoriya.
“Some people have already lost their territory and their relatives, but those of us who still have them don’t want the same to happen to us. So it would be better to give up some territory and stay alive, and keep our loved ones close to us.”
