Reactions in Kyiv on Sunday ranged from skepticism to reluctant acceptance following U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia could involve “some swapping of territories.”
The proposal, which emerged ahead of Trump’s planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin next Friday in Alaska, sparked mixed emotions among Ukrainians weary from more than three years of war.
Anastasia Yemelianova, 31, said she felt conflicted.
“As a person who loves her country, I don’t want to compromise,” she told the Associated Press.
“But seeing all these deaths, knowing my mother is living under shelling in Nikopol and my father is fighting, I want all this to end as soon as possible.”
Some, like Svitlana Dobrynska, whose son died in combat, firmly rejected the idea of ceding territory but backed halting fighting to save lives.
“We don’t have the capacity to launch an offensive to retake our lands,” said the 57-year-old pensioner.
“But to prevent more deaths, we could stop military operations and sign some kind of agreement—just not give up our territories.”
Others were more open to compromise.
Ihor Usatenko, 67, said he might support territorial concessions “on condition of compensation and, possibly, some reparations.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, dismissed the upcoming Trump-Putin talks, warning that any peace arrangement made without Kyiv’s involvement would result in “dead solutions.”
The Alaska meeting is being watched closely as a potential turning point in the conflict, though many in Ukraine doubt it will deliver a just end to the war.
