A good The New York Times commentary on Ukraine’s reaction to the Trump-Putin call.

A good The New York Times commentary on Ukraine’s reaction to the Trump-Putin call.

“Trump and Putin Talk, Ukraine Shrugs.

Throughout 2025, any call between Trump and Putin put Kyiv on edge. Ukrainian officials feared their country could be sold out by the American president, who is inclined to indulge his Russian counterpart.

After each call, they rushed to find out what had been discussed, often with the aim of mitigating the consequences.

This time, Kyiv’s reaction was different: instead of panic, they shrugged.

Reacting to the news, President Zelensky said he had instructed his team to find out what had been discussed, including the Kremlin’s proposal for a short ceasefire. But there was no sign that Zelensky was trying to speak with Trump or consulting European allies, as he had done before.

And by Thursday morning, news of the call could barely be found on Ukrainian news sites.

Ukraine’s reaction has a simple explanation: after a year, conversations like these have failed to move peace talks off dead center. Ukrainians have stopped tying either their fears or, in some cases, their hopes to them.

11 calls between Trump and Putin have produced no result and have underscored Trump’s inclination toward Moscow’s approach to ending the war.

Sentiment in Ukraine has shifted from high expectations that Trump could bring peace to a deeply rooted conviction that he will not.

Ukraine’s growing defense industry has gradually allowed it to fight on its own, relying less on supplies from the United States.”

Nytimes

Ukraine Reacts With Shrug to Phone Call Between Trump and Putin

More than a year of similar conversations have failed to bring the country any closer to peace, so Ukrainians have stopped hoping they will.