Caught between Putin’s obstinate determination to keep pounding Ukraine and Donald Trump’s obvious sympathy for the Kremlin’s line, Kyiv faces a daunting future.
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KYIV, Ukraine — The lyrics of a Ukrainian funeral song, echoing from the speakers of a battered pickup truck moving along Kyiv’s Khreshchatyk Avenue, are haunting and to the point:
Mother, do not scold me. I do not know where I will die. Strangers will bury me. Little mother, do not grieve…
For a few moments, time stands still. One by one, passersby kneel as the funeral procession moves slowly down the avenue. Throats tighten. Some have tears in their eyes. Others cross themselves. A woman sobs uncontrollably. A megaphone crackles: “Kyiv welcomes its heroes.”
For the past weeks, Ukraine has been palpably anxious. Ukrainians have watched in shock as American support wavered and Donald Trump verbally attacked their country, their president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and their future — first on Truth Social, then from the Oval Office, followed by the suspension of US aid and intelligence sharing.
After more than eight hours of talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a Ukrainian delegation announced they were prepared for a 30-day ceasefire “on land, in the skies, and at sea,” following discussions with their American counterparts.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, pleased with the progress toward “a forthcoming peace,” declared that “the ball is now in Russia’s court” and announced that Washington would restore the military aid previously approved by Congress under Joe Biden, as well as intelligence sharing.
Putin has said that he accepts the idea of a ceasefire in principle, but that details still need to be worked out. That could be a stalling tactic since Putin, who still wants to drive Ukrainians out of Kursk, can continue to make demands that the Ukrainians feel they can’t accept, while at the same time he stays on good terms with Trump. Overnight, Moscow launched a new wave of airstrikes. In the Kursk pocket, Ukrainian forces, which have been struggling for days, appear on the verge of retreat.
No More Hope
“I feel like I’m living in cognitive dissonance,” says Nina, 31. Her large blue eyes fill with tears. She is in Kyiv to attend the funeral of a friend killed on the front lines a few days ago.
“I don’t really know what to think about everything that’s happening,” she says. “I’m just proud of our president, Zelenskyy. I think he managed to maneuver well with the Americans and, despite the dispute in the Oval Office, he remained dignified. He has acted in Ukraine’s best interests.”
A deep sense of confusion seems to have taken hold of Ukraine. Faced with the US’s erratic foreign policy, Ukrainians no longer know what to believe.
“I wouldn’t say that the US has betrayed us,” says Vlad Ivanchuk, in his forties. “But one thing is certain: We will never fully trust the Americans again. Our future is in Europe, and I know that Europe will never abandon us.”
Nina, however, fears that the current negotiations will leave Ukraine in a state of limbo and unpredictability.
“We are anxious, and it is almost impossible to plan ahead. But we continue to trust the Ukrainian forces, and we know we are not alone — that Europe keeps supporting us. We believe in a shared future because, more than anyone, we uphold the values Europe stands for. And we pay for it with our blood.”
That said, almost no one feels confident.
How to Negotiate?
“Even if the war stops for a while, it will start again at some point,” says Kristina, 25.
Originally from Mykolaiv, she is raising her son, Ilya, alone. “My husband has been serving in the army since 2022,” she says. “He and his comrades don’t even talk about a possible ceasefire. They don’t believe in it. And they know that nothing will change. Even if there’s a ceasefire, they will not leave the front.”
Lisa Yasko, a member of Ukraine’s Parliament from Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People Party, shares the skepticism widespread among Ukrainians: “We’ve had more than 10 years of war. We know that the Russians have a habit of not respecting ceasefires.”
But she insists that agreeing to the truce was important — not only to ease tensions between Kyiv and Washington, but also to demonstrate Ukraine’s goodwill and expose Russia’s warlike intentions:
Zelenskyy is a very skilled negotiator and has a talent for understanding people. But emotions in the Oval Office are not productive. That’s why I think it’s very good that he was absent from these negotiations in Jeddah. At this stage, it is beneficial that discussions are not happening directly between Donald Trump and Zelenskyy, but between the two delegations.
Yet Lisa doubts peace will come quickly.
Kristina also has doubts. But above all, she opposes any further territorial concessions to Russia: “I don’t want my city [Mykolaiv] to end up under Russian occupation just because Trump and Putin decided so.”
A Gallup poll published in November 2024 found that just over half of Ukrainians are open to territorial concessions, while 38 percent oppose them.
“But you saw what happened,” Kristina points out. “Trump negotiates, and that same evening, the Russians attack us harder than ever.”
Still, like Lisa, Kristina wants to believe in the possibility of peace: “Maybe there will be a ceasefire. But the Russians will use that time to rearm and attack us again.”
“But we are ready to try,” insists Lisa. “At the very least, we have to try.”
