Ukrainians react with scepticism to peace deal idea by US

Reactions to the idea of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia in Kyiv varied on Sunday from skepticism to quiet resignation.

This came following US President Donald Trump suggestion of a peace deal that could include “some swapping of territories.”

Anastasia Yemelianova, 31, said she felt torn. “As a person who loves her country. I don’t want to compromise within myself,” she told the Associated Press.

“But seeing all these deaths and knowing that my mother is now living in Nikopol under shelling and my father is fighting, I want all this to end as soon as possible," she continued.

Others, like Svitlana Dobrynska, whose son died fighting, rejected outright concessions but supported halting combat to save lives. “We don’t have the opportunity to launch an offensive to recapture our territories,” the 57-year-old pensioner said.

“But to prevent people from dying, we can simply stop military operations, sign some kind of agreement, but not give up our territories," she added.

Ihor Usatenko, a 67-year-old pensioner, said he would consider ceding territory “on condition for compensation and, possibly, some reparations.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday however dismissed the planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that any peace deal excluding Kyiv would lead to “dead solutions.”

The Trump-Putin meeting, scheduled for next Friday in Alaska, is seen as a potential breakthrough in the more than three-year long war.