A week into President Donald Trump’s term, on the streets of Kiev, Ukrainians are expressing a range of emotions – hope, despair and concern that Ukraine will be left alone in the face of Russian aggression.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised that he can end the war in Ukraine. But some Ukrainians are skeptical that he can force Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his forces. Several analysts told Voice of America in Kiev that the problem lies in the inability to reconcile the opposing positions of Ukraine and Russia. A week into President Donald Trump’s term, on the streets of Kiev, Ukrainians are expressing a range of emotions – hope, despair and concern that Ukraine will be left alone in the face of Russian aggression. “President Donald Trump’s statements really give me hope that he will make every effort and stop the aggressor Putin. Concessions must be made so that our soldiers do not continue to die,” said the Kiev resident, who identified himself only as Volodymyr.
“Whatever agreement can be reached, it will not be favorable for Ukraine. We will be forced to make concessions,” says Lilia, a resident of Kiev.
For Ukrainian Nazar, Ukraine “should rely on its own forces, not on an external force.” “The US administration has specific plans and obligations to its voters,” he says. Since the campaign period, President Trump has promised to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. But there is no clear strategy on how he will achieve this goal,” says analyst Mykola Bielieskov. “Ukraine and Russia have different positions. Russia wants to keep the occupied territories and end NATO’s policy of keeping the door open for new members, that is, for Ukraine to be neutral. Russia wants strict restrictions on Ukraine’s defense forces,” he says.
Such demands could lead to the destruction of Ukraine, says analyst Bielieskov. To recognize the annexation of Ukrainian territories in the east and south by Russia would require a major political change.
“This change can be made through laws, or even through the Constitution, but it must be passed by parliament. Ukrainian society must decide,” says Ukrainian lawmaker Solomiia Bobrovska. For Professor Valerii Pekar, an agreement that would reduce the armed forces leaves Ukraine defenseless. He believes that only the issue of NATO membership is up for discussion. “If I were negotiating on behalf of Ukraine, I would be more than willing to pledge that we will not join NATO for ten years. First, no one has invited us. So we can promise and the geopolitical situation can change in a few years,” he says. But the problem lies in the fact that for Putin, such a pledge is insufficient, says analyst Bielieskov. According to him, President Biden had tried to sell Putin a moratorium on Ukraine’s NATO membership.
“President Biden told Putin that the chances of Ukraine joining NATO in the near future are almost zero. Putin publicly confirmed this conversation between them late last year and said that they are not satisfied with that,” says analyst Bielieskov.
Analyst Bielieskov says Ukraine’s negotiating position needs to be strengthened. Professor Pekar is certain that Putin will continue the attacks.
“Putin thinks things are going well and he won’t sit down to negotiate. President Trump is promising big changes in fuel prices. The Russian economy would be badly hurt if fuel prices were to drop too much, but that would require the cooperation of many players,” he says. President Trump says he will speak soon with President Putin to end the war in Ukraine. He also said that “Ukraine is ready to deal.” The problem, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is that Putin is ready to continue the war. (VOA)
