In east Ukraine, where invading Russian forces are steadily gaining ground in costly metre-for-metre battles, Ukrainian troops holding the line see US President Donald Trump’s push for peace as a lost cause.
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“The war will continue as long as Russia remains as it is,” said 45-year-old Ukrainian serviceman Vitaliy, who withheld his full name in line with military protocol.
“These barbarians will not stop until they are stopped by force. They only understand force,” he said.
His assessment came the morning after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump met together Kyiv’s European allies to present a united front and push for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion grinding through its fourth year.
It ended with Trump pushing for a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky, who has said that the conflict can only be ended with talks involving leaders.
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In Kramatorsk, a Ukrainian garrison city and the largest still under Kyiv’s control in the eastern Donetsk region, serviceman Vitaliy was firmly against the prospect of a meeting between the two leaders.
“You must not meet with an international criminal and you must not make any concessions to him because he can’t be trusted,” he said.