KHARKIV REGION: Ukrainian soldiers preparing for battle say they have little faith in prospects for a quick ceasefire, and many reject suggestions that Kyiv should give up any of its hard-fought territory to Russia.
Reuters interviewed troops at two training bases in the northeastern Kharkiv region this week, days ahead of a planned meeting in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine fears the two leaders could use their summit on Friday to dictate terms of peace and force Kyiv to abandon territory, a move Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has flatly rejected.
“Give it away to whom? Give it away for what?” asked the commander of a training base for Ukraine’s 58th Motorized Brigade, whose call sign is Chef.
Trump said on Monday that both Kyiv and Moscow would need to cede land to end the war, now in its fourth year. European Union leaders rallied to Ukraine’s defense on Tuesday, saying it must have the freedom to decide its own future.
The joint statement came as Russian forces made a sudden thrust into eastern Ukraine in a bid to break a key defensive line, likely aimed at boosting pressure on Kyiv to give up land.
The rapid battlefield push by Russia’s larger and better-equipped army followed months of deadly air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities.
A Gallup poll released last week found that 69 percent of Ukrainians favor a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. However, around the same number believe fighting won’t end soon.
“Every path to peace is built through negotiations,” said another 58th Brigade soldier, call sign Champion, sitting inside an armored vehicle.
“But I cannot say that tomorrow there will be peace just like that... Because the enemy continues to creep in.”
Trump said his talks with Putin would be “a feel-out meeting” and that he would tell the Russian leader to “end this war.” But he also hinted that he may walk away and let the two sides continue fighting.
Other Ukrainian troops training in the Kharkiv region also welcomed a ceasefire, but said the Kremlin would need to be forced into making peace.
“Until Russia suffers losses big enough to give up the idea of military pressure on us, (fighting) will continue,” said an instructor from the 43rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, whose call sign is Snail.
“We will not be able to stop this otherwise.”
Ukrainian troops doubt quick ceasefire, reject territorial concessions
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Ukrainian troops doubt quick ceasefire, reject territorial concessions
- Ukraine fears Trump and Putin could use their summit to dictate terms of peace and force Kyiv to abandon territory
- Trump said on Monday that both Kyiv and Moscow would need to cede land to end the war
Zelensky says Russia preparing for new ‘year of war’
- Putin earlier said Russia would achieve its goals in its Ukraine offensive, including seizing Ukrainian territories it claims as its own
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday Russia was preparing to wage a new “year of war” on his country in 2026, after his counterpart Vladimir Putin said Moscow would “certainly” achieve its objectives.
“Today, we heard yet another signal from Moscow that they are preparing to make next year a year of war,” Zelensky said in his regular evening address.
The statement was a reaction to Putin, who earlier said Russia would achieve its goals in its Ukraine offensive, including seizing Ukrainian territories it claims as its own, amid a flurry of international diplomacy to end the war.
“The goals of the special military operation will certainly be achieved,” Putin told a meeting with defense ministry officials in Moscow, using the Kremlin’s wording for the nearly four-year war.
“We would prefer to do this and eliminate the root causes of the conflict through diplomacy,” he said, vowing to seize the Ukrainian lands Russia claims to have annexed “by military means” if “the opposing country and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive discussions.”
Putin’s hawkish comments come as Ukraine on Monday hailed “progress” made on the question of future security guarantees for Kyiv, after two days of talks with US President Donald Trump’s envoys in Berlin.
But according to Zelensky, differences remain on the question of what territories Ukraine would have to cede to Russia.
Washington’s initial proposal — criticized by Ukraine and its allies as overly favorable to Russia — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognize the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.
Zelensky at EU summit
The current contents of the revised plan remain unclear.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Kremlin said Russia was waiting for information from the US on the outcome of the talks in Berlin.
“We expect that, as soon as they are ready, our American counterparts will inform us of the results of their work with the Ukrainians and the Europeans,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
In September 2022, Russia claimed to have officially annexed the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson regions, even though it did not have full military control over all of them.
Zelensky is expected to attend a summit in Brussels on Thursday to lobby European Union leaders to adopt a plan to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s defenses.
He said in his evening address that Putin’s bellicose signals “are not only for us.”
“It is important that our partners see this, and important that they not only see it but also respond, including our partners in the United States of America, who often say that Russia supposedly wants to end the war,” he said, accusing Moscow of trying to “undermine diplomacy.”
