Nina Borodova, 61, with a portrait of her nephew Serhiy Rivnyi, who was killed on March 5 in the Pokrovske direction at the age of 33, in Kyiv, on March 12.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
Nina Brodova could only shake her head at talk of a ceasefire as she clutched a photograph of her 33-year-old nephew, Serhii, who was killed by Russian soldiers on the front line last week.
She’d come to Kyiv’s Independence Square on Wednesday to find a place for the picture amid the rows of photos of other fallen Ukrainian soldiers. She’s desperate for the war to end but doesn’t put much faith in the 30-day ceasefire that’s been proposed by Ukraine and the United States. And she has zero trust in Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“You can’t have negotiations with terrorists who are shooting your back and your houses,” the 61-year-old said as she held back tears. “I’m not for negotiations when it comes to the division of our country. I don’t need negotiations when the needs of Ukraine won’t be included.”
The truce plan, unveiled in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday by officials from Ukraine and the U.S., has been largely met with a mixture of hope, anger and skepticism by Ukrainians. Russia has yet to agree to the idea and it’s far from certain that Mr. Putin will be keen to halt fighting just when Russian troops appear to be making headway in several sections along the front.
“Today everything depends on whether Russia wants a ceasefire or to continue killing people,” Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday. “Ukraine demonstrated and outlined its positions in a very direct way, without any reservations. And Russia will have to answer to that.”
Mr. Zelensky added: “I have emphasized this many times, none of us trust the Russians.”
U.S. officials have conveyed the proposal to Moscow, and U.S. President Donald Trump has said he plans to speak with Mr. Putin at some point. “We haven’t spoken to him yet with substance, because we just found out,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday. “I’ve gotten some positive messages, but a positive message means nothing.”
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the proposal was being studied. “We need to receive this information first. We have also contacts scheduled with the Americans in the next few days, in the course of which we expect to receive full information,” he said.
The plan calls for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, which could be extended on mutual agreement. During that period, negotiators from Ukraine and Russia would outline proposals for a more lasting peace accord.
The U.S. has also agreed to resume providing military aid and intelligence to Ukraine. Both had been suspended after a tumultuous meeting at the White House last month when Mr. Trump berated Mr. Zelensky for not being appreciative enough of America’s backing.
Any stop in the fighting would be a welcome breakthrough and mark the first ceasefire since Russia’s full-scale invasion began three years ago. But both sides are far apart when it comes to negotiating a lasting peace deal.
Russia is demanding recognition of four Ukrainian provinces its forces almost entirely control. Moscow is also adamant that Ukraine does not join NATO and that the country’s military is neutralized.
Ukraine wants no recognition of Russian sovereignty over territory it has occupied and Mr. Zelensky is demanding security guarantees from the U.S., Europe and other allies to ensure that Russia cannot attack again.
And even as talk of a ceasefire gathered steam on Wednesday, the fighting and killing raged on.
Viacheslav Grygorevskyi, 17, and his friend Elizabeth Chechovska, 16, in Kyiv on March 12 expressed anger about the prospects of a ceasefire.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
At least five people died in Russian strikes on the port city of Odesa and the Kryvyi Rih region on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian officials. Russian air defences shot down nearly two dozen drones along the border area with Ukraine and in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Fighting also intensified in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been struggling to hang on to a sliver of territory they captured last summer. Mr. Putin made a visit to the region on Wednesday where Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said Ukrainian troops had been surrounded.
At Independence Square on Wednesday, it was difficult to find anyone who thought the ceasefire would have much success, or who trusted either Mr. Putin or Mr. Trump.
“It’s hard to believe that it will happen, especially when we saw the meeting between Trump and Zelensky,” said Nika Hresko, 18, as she walked by the long rows of flags, flowers, candles and photographs dedicated to those who have died.
Olga Dzulai, 56, dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interest in reaching a peace deal.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
Olga Dzulai, 56, dismissed Mr. Putin’s interest in reaching a peace deal. “Putin says the majority of Ukrainians would like to live in Russia and really tries to insist on territory concessions,” she said. “When we’re talking about a successful peaceful agreement, our President is not the reason why it’s not happening. Putin is the reason.”
And Mr. Trump? “At the very beginning we trusted him. But now we don’t trust him,” she said. “We’re really disappointed, but we are fighting and we hope that peace will come.”
Viacheslav Grygorevskyi could barely contain his rage when asked about the prospects of a ceasefire. “Ukraine wants to be in peace in a good future. But its future must be just,” he said. “We can’t leave our land because Russia wants it. It’s our land, it’s our people.”
He’s 17, almost old enough to join the military, and his hope for lasting peace is fading. “I don’t trust Trump and his plan,” he said, adding that Ukraine has been at war with its neighbour off and on for centuries.
His friend, 16-year-old Elizabeth Chechovska, said she’s angry at the ceasefire proposal and the demands that have been put on Ukraine by its allies.
“We want to live in our country. Not in Europe. Not in America. Because we love our country, we want to study here, we want to live here,” she said. “It’s really hard to live in time when you don’t know what will happen tomorrow.”