People in Kyiv expressed a mixture of hope and scepticism on Tuesday that Donald Trump can end the war in Ukraine, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the US president as a “decisive” leader who will bring about a “just peace”.
Trump described himself as a “peacekeeper” who would avoid entangling the US in damaging foreign wars in his inauguration speech but did not mention Ukraine, or explain how he might persuade Vladimir Putin to engage in negotiations almost three years after his full-scale invasion.
Speaking later to reporters in the White House, Trump claimed one million Russian soldiers had died in the war and suggested that it was in the interests of both sides to stop fighting. “He [Putin] is destroying Russia. He should make a deal. Zelenskyy wants to make a deal,” Trump said.
Ukrainians outside Lukianivska metro station in Kyiv the next morning – where a Russian missile killed three people on Saturday – said they were anxiously waiting to see what happened next. Behind them was the wrecked facade of an office building and a damaged branch of McDonalds, the first in the Ukrainian capital.
“I think a deal is unrealistic. Trump is blah blah blah,” Valeriia, a 23-year-old shop worker, said. “He promised to end the conflict in 24 hours. That won’t happen. My friends are split 50-50 between those who think he can do something, and those who don’t.”
“I watched the inauguration on TV. Trump impressed me. We need to stop the war,” Mykola, a retired physicist, said. He said he used to live in New York and had seen Trump several times outside Trump Tower. “I think he can really do something. He’s made a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.”
The scientist suggested freezing the current front line while diplomatic negotiations begin. It is unclear if Zelenskyy would agree to such a plan, or agree to probable Russian demands including Ukraine not joining Nato and the loss of further territory. “We have to reach an agreement. It doesn’t matter how,” Mykola said.
Zelenskyy has welcomed Trump’s return to the White House and congratulated him on Monday. “The peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace,” Zelenskyy wrote. Ukraine looked forward to “mutually beneficial cooperation”.
His enthusiastic comments came after strained relations between Kyiv and the Biden administration. Ukrainian officials said the former president pursued an overcautious policy of crisis management, with military aid sent too late and in insufficient quantities to defeat Russia. US officials, meanwhile, dismissed Zelenskyy as unrealistic.
There is no sign yet that Zelenskyy’s diplomatic overtures to Trump are reciprocated. “I think Trump doesn’t want him. He didn’t invite Zelenskyy to the inauguration,” Anna Fedorivna, an English-speaking graduate, said. “Maybe Trump can find a way forward. He talks to Putin at least, which Biden didn’t. I hope something positive can emerge.”
The Ukrainian journalist Kristina Berdynskykh watched Trump’s speech in a smoke-filled bar in downtown Kyiv. “There was nothing in it about Ukraine. The only foreign policy to come up was Panama, Mexico and Mars,” she said. “I think Trump doesn’t think about Ukraine a lot. Our main challenge in the future will be to keep his attention.”
Berdynskykh said Trump’s promise to increase US oil and gas drilling was good news for Ukraine. It would push down the price of Russian oil, sent around the world in a shadow fleet, and used by the Kremlin to fund its massive war economy. “I don’t think Trump will give Putin Ukraine as a present. That would make America look weak,” she said.
Anton Herashchenko, a commentator and former government adviser, said Trump wanted to the war to end quickly and for Ukraine to become Europe’s “internal” problem. The US president’s main interests were elsewhere – in the American continent and Asia-Pacific, he said. “As of today, the situation of strategic uncertainty continues,” he said.
Trump’s special envoy on Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has suggested that the two sides could reach an agreement in 100 days. Kellogg, however, cancelled a trip to Kyiv scheduled for early January. Few Ukrainians believe this timetable is realistic. More likely, they think, is that Trump will end US military assistance to Ukraine, seeing it as an unwanted Biden legacy.
In Moscow, Putin has shown no willingness to compromise. His demands include the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, including areas he does not control, and the replacement of Zelenskyy’s government with a “neutral” pro-Russian administration. On the battlefield, meanwhile, Russian forces are advancing at their quickest rate since 2022.
“I don’t think Putin will stop until he has destroyed Ukraine. He’s a fool,” Petro Hryhorovych, a pensioner, said, adding that the explosion on Saturday woke him at 6am, shaking his flat. He added: “Even so, there is a little bit of hope. I want the war to finish. So many peaceful people have died.”
