President Trump swept into office with a declaration that he could bring Europe’s deadliest war in a generation to a swift end.
But after a phone call on Monday with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Trump appears prepared to step back from his role trying to end the war in Ukraine.
For many Ukrainians, the call marked the last gasp of a chaotic process that few believed had any chance of success as long as the United States refused to apply pressure on Moscow. And that means the long and devastating war will rage on with no end in sight.
Olena Boiko, 41, called Mr. Trump’s diplomatic effort to bring the conflict to a halt a “theatrical performance that has nothing to do with the reality of trenches or bomb shelters.”
Ms. Boiko, who fled from a village near the border to Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine which itself is under relentless bombardment, said she and her family had suffered immense losses during the war and desperately wanted it to end.
“My daughters and I have lost the most precious things to this war — my husband, their father, and my childhood home, which was destroyed down to its foundation,” Ms. Boiko said.
In his call with Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump did not appear to have demanded concessions from Russia, or to have been offered any. Mr. Trump abandoned his call for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire. Instead, he said that only Ukraine and Russia could resolve their differences.
Liliia Zambrovska, 27, a pharmacist working in the western Dnipro region, said that Ukrainians were exhausted but had little choice but to carry on. They must find support from allies where they could and then do what they must for themselves, she said.
“America and Russia are playing a dirty and bloody game,” she said. But Ukraine would fight on “because our future belongs to us alone.”
She was speaking Tuesday morning after yet another night of Russian bombardments that have continued, and intensified, during the diplomacy. The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 93 out of 108 long-range drones.
With the civilian death toll steadily rising and Russia stepping up assaults across the front, the gamesmanship around talks had become mainly background noise for many Ukrainians.
“I wasn’t expecting anything anymore,” said Oksana Pavlenko, 50. “Hope always remains, but we have to rely on ourselves.”
The call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin on Monday came after Russia and Ukraine started direct negotiations last week in Istanbul, their first since 2022. Russia stuck to its hard-line demands in that meeting, including that Ukraine withdraw entirely from a swath of its land that Russia claims to have annexed, including areas that Russian forces do not control.
The negotiations resulted in an agreement to conduct what would be the largest prisoner swap of the conflict, but not in a cease-fire.
Many Ukrainians say they did not believe that Mr. Putin had any intention of ending the fighting unless he was forced to do so, and they considered his diplomacy a cover for intensified attacks.
“The situation in the combat zones is becoming more intense and only getting worse,” said Lt. Pavlo Velychko, who was reached by phone at his position near the border with Russia. “It feels like, under the cover of these negotiations, they’re simply conducting their offensive campaign in all directions, with a culmination planned for summer or autumn.”
Denys, a drone pilot with the 59th Brigade who asked that his family name not be used because Russia often tries to identify and target the families of pilots, said he had seen little if any cause for hope in the week’s talks.
“Nothing suggested that Russia wanted to stop the war,” he said, adding: “On our front line, it’s actually the opposite — they’re throwing in all their forces, intelligence, and reserves to try and reach the Dnipropetrovsk region border.”
Ukrainians want nothing more than an end to the fighting, he said. “But that won’t happen anytime soon.”
Oleksandr Palii, a 28-year-old veteran who lives in Kyiv, said he felt that officials in distant countries like the United States did not grasp the reality of the war or Russia’s ultimate aims. That was not a surprise, he said, though Mr. Trump was missing a historic chance to be the leader “who finally destroyed or helped destroy the Russian threat forever.”
Mr. Palii said he was not frightened by either Russia’s threats or the prospect of the United States stepping back from the conflict.
He pointed to efforts by European allies, who have been steadfast in their support, to step up military assistance. And, he said, Ukraine is far more capable of defending itself now than it was when the invasion started, with its domestic weapons production expanding rapidly.
“With or without Trump, the war will end,” Mr. Palli said. It is just a question of how many more people die before that day comes, he added.
Nataliia Novosolova contributed reporting.
Marc Santora has been reporting from Ukraine since the beginning of the war with Russia. He was previously based in London as an international news editor focused on breaking news events and earlier the bureau chief for East and Central Europe, based in Warsaw. He has also reported extensively from Iraq and Africa.
Maria Varenikova covers Ukraine and its war with Russia.
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