Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian troops doubt quick ceasefire, reject territorial concessions

By Nkiruka Nnorom, with agency report

As the US President, Donald Trump, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, meet on Friday at Alaska, Ukrainian soldiers have expressed little faith in prospects of a quick ceasefire, rejecting suggestions that Kyiv should give up any of its hard-fought territory to Russia.

This comes as European leaders have warned against Ukrainian borders being redrawn by force, saying it must have the freedom to decide its own future.

Trump has suggested that both countries could swap lands in order to end the war, now in its fourth year.

Eventual land swap could see Russia taking the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and keeping Crimea.

In exchange it is expected to give up the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it partially occupied.

Condemning any planned territory swap between both countries in a statement, European leaders said: “the people of Ukraine must have the freedom to decide their future”.

It added the principles of “territorial integrity” must be respected and “international borders must not be changed by force”.

The statement was signed by 26 of 27 leaders. Missing from the signatories was Hungary’s leader Viktor Orban, who has maintained friendly relations with Russia and has repeatedly tried to block European Union support for Ukraine.

The statement underscored the nervousness felt by Europeans about Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, which many countries – particularly those bordering Russia or those in which the memory of Soviet occupation still lingers – believe could pose a direct threat in the near future.

Meanwhile, some of the troops interviewed by were quoted as expressing fears that 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 Zelenskiy has flatly rejected.

“Give it away to whom? Give it away for what?” asked the commander of a training base for Ukraine’s 58th Motorised Brigade, whose call sign is Chef.

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% of Ukrainians favour 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 armoured 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 Mechanised Brigade, whose call sign is Snail.

“We will not be able to stop this otherwise.”

Europe’s history of redrawn borders

European countries have a long history of borders being redrawn by bloody wars and are extremely concerned by the prospect of the US allowing that to happen in Ukraine. A legal recognition of Russia’s sovereignty over territories it conquered by force is unacceptable to the EU.

Last week, while admitting that some Ukrainian territory might end up being de facto controlled by Russia, NATO chief, Mark Rutte ,stressed that this should not be formally recognised.

Formal recognition would entail a change to the Ukrainian constitution that needs to be approved by a national referendum, which in turn must be authorised by the Ukrainian parliament. This would be a considerable hurdle for President Volodymyr Zelensky and may lead to the end of his government.

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