From where Olena Boiko lives in Sumy, a Ukrainian city under relentless bombardment by Russia, the idea that President Trump may be stepping back from his role trying to end the war in Ukraine was disappointing but hardly surprising.
Mr. Trump’s diplomatic effort was a “theatrical performance that has nothing to do with the reality of trenches or bomb shelters,” Ms. Boiko said on Tuesday.
She and her family, she said, had suffered immense losses and desperately wanted the war to end. “My daughters and I have lost the most precious things to this war — my husband, their father, and my childhood home, which was destroyed down to its foundation,” she said.
Mr. Trump took office declaring he could swiftly end the war. But after a phone call on Monday with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Trump suggested he was prepared to step back.
For many Ukrainians, the call was the last gasp of a chaotic process that few believed had any chance of success as long as Washington refused to pressure Moscow. And that means the devastating war will rage on.
Mr. Trump did not appear to have demanded concessions from Russia or to have been offered any. He abandoned his call for an immediate cease-fire and said that only Ukraine and Russia could resolve their differences.
Though that caused disappointment in Ukraine, it could also mean reduced pressure. Mr. Trump has pressed Ukraine to essentially grant Russia all the territory it has gained in the war while offering Kyiv vague security assurances.
The administration is also signaling that previously approved aid to Ukraine will continue and that it is helping to find additional air defenses at the country’s request. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in testimony on Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said it was “encouraging” its allies to supply air defense to Kyiv, though “none of these countries want to give up their Patriot systems, either.”
Liliia Zambrovska, 27, a pharmacist in the western Dnipro region, said Ukrainians were exhausted but had to carry on. They must find support from allies where they could and do what they must for themselves, she said.
“America and Russia are playing a dirty and bloody game,” she said. But Ukraine would fight on “because our future belongs to us alone.”
She spoke on Tuesday after yet another night of Russian bombing that has intensified during the diplomacy.
With the civilian death toll rising steadily, the gamesmanship around talks had become background noise for many Ukrainians.
“I wasn’t expecting anything anymore,” said Oksana Pavlenko, 50. “Hope always remains, but we have to rely on ourselves.”
The call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin came after Russia and Ukraine started direct negotiations last week in Istanbul. Russia stuck to its hard-line demands, including that Ukraine withdraw entirely from a swath of land that Russia claims to have annexed, including areas Russian forces do not control.
The negotiations resulted in an agreement for a large prisoner swap but not a cease-fire.
While Ukraine is disappointed by the U.S. refusal to pressure Russia, it wants to prevent a further fracturing with Washington. As part of that effort, President Volodymyr Zelensky sent a letter to Mr. Trump outlining a proposal for a free-trade agreement, Taras Kachka, the deputy economy minister, said on Tuesday.
Many Ukrainians say they believe Mr. Putin had no intention of ending the fighting unless forced, and they considered his diplomacy a cover for intensified attacks.
“The situation in the combat zones is becoming more intense and only getting worse,” Lt. Pavlo Velychko said by phone from his position near the border with Russia. “Under the cover of these negotiations, they’re simply conducting their offensive campaign in all directions, with a culmination planned for summer or autumn.”
Denys, a drone pilot with the 59th Brigade who asked that his family name not be used because Russia often tried to identify and target pilots’ families, said he had seen little if any cause for hope in the week’s talks.
“Nothing suggested that Russia wanted to stop the war,” he said, adding, “On our front line, it’s actually the opposite — they’re throwing in all their forces, intelligence and reserves to try and reach the Dnipropetrovsk region border.”
Oleksandr Palii, a 28-year-old veteran in Kyiv, said he believed that officials in distant countries did not grasp the reality of the war. That was unsurprising, he said, though, he added, Mr. Trump was missing a chance to be the leader “who finally destroyed or helped destroy the Russian threat forever.”
Mr. Palii said he was not frightened by Russia’s threats or the prospect of the United States stepping away.
He pointed to efforts by European allies to step up military assistance. And, he said, Ukraine is far more capable of defending itself now, with domestic weapons production expanding rapidly.
“With or without Trump, the war will end,” Mr. Palii said. It is just a question of how many more people will die before that day comes, he added.
Nataliia Novosolova contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Michael Crowley from Washington.
