'Politicians from many countries are just telling fairy tales, nothing has been done...blah, blah, blah'

Ukrainians losing faith in peace talks as violence continues

- ZAK GARNER-PURKIS

BEFORE Vladimir Putin told the world of his intention for a ceasefire, the pressure on Ukraine to agree a deal with Russia to end the war had been ramping up.

Donald Trump's administration welcomed the Kremlin's proposed three-day halt to the fighting, which coincided with Moscow's Second World War Victory Day military parade, as a positive sign that peace could be brokered.

But in Kyiv, Putin's ceasefire was greeted with scepticism. President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to agree, labelling the move "another manipulation" that was about preventing embarrassment while Red Square was filled with pageantry.

The Ukrainian leader said: "For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before ceasing fire - just to provide Putin with silence for his parade. We value human lives, not parades." At that stage, the US believed Ukraine's preferred option, a 30-day pause in the fighting, could be agreed upon, and was pushing both sides to commit.

But in the days that followed, everything changed. Signs that Trump was losing patience with Putin began before the ceasefire announcement.

He was pictured recently in a knee-toknee seated conversation with Zelensky at Pope Francis's funeral, and then published a post on his Truth Social network about feeling strung along by the Russian leader.

A "$500billion" deal granting the US opportunities to exploit Ukraine's vast mineral resources was subsequently agreed and then, out of the blue, came news that the Americans planned to scale back their role as peace brokers.

Violence

According to Tammy Bruce, the State Department press secretary, they were no longer willing to "fly around the world at the drop of a hat" and planned to leave the countries alone to negotiate.

These movements might have appeared seismic to the watching world.

But on the streets of Kyiv, the average Ukrainian was as tired as the US Government with the politics.