Ukraine fears what Trump's peace may look like

“I have no plans for the future at all,” says Alexander Bejan, standing up to an empty, frozen Palok, where he works as a fisherman on the banks of the Denipro River in southern Ukraine. “If I wake up in the morning, it's already pretty good.”

Malo -Caterica sits only 15 km (9 miles) north of the front line in the area of ​​Ukraine.

If US President Donald Trump manages to stop the war, Malo -Caterica hopes to end up on the right of this first line.

I last visited the area in 2023, when Ukraine launched a very expected countera -apesia.

At that time, the Ukrainians dared to dream of winning this war. After all, they won the battle at Kyiv and vacated the territory elsewhere.

But 18 months onwards, similar to thunderstorms, reflect the failure of this operation and the dominance of Russia.

The front line here is wide in the same place – but the wide space of the river has gone.

When the Kahovka occupied with the Russian Dam down the stream was destroyed, it became a huge, continuous space of Scrubland.

The barren environment reflects the frozen limb, which Ukraine finds itself. The White House wants to put an end to the war, but it's not as simple as to blow a full -time whistle.

“If the front line becomes a border, it would be scary … The battles can explode any moment,” Alexander explains.

The stated river bed separates our location from Russia -occupied territory. Since 2022, distant sunlight has bounced from the metal power plant Zaporizhzhia, in the grip of Moscow from 2022.

Ukraine and the US want peace, but there seems to be the consensus.

Washington's vision for this, along with the realities of the battlefield, means that Russia is likely to hold the Ukrainian land that has been seized.

Ukraine wants meaningful security guarantees that would prevent the forces from invading the river.

Instead, Donald Trump denied Kiev's dream of joining NATO Alliance while focusing on Russia.

After watching and reporting the struggle of Ukraine for more than three years, this is a particularly difficult hand to get the country.

There are feelings of betrayal. Commentators criticize either Ukrainian President Zelenski or the new foreign policy of his largest ally.

“The border will not depend on us,” Olexander says. “It probably won't work, but Seoul is 30 km from North Korea and they somehow live and prosper.”

The challenge of Malo -Caterarian to find a new goal lies in the heart of the future of Ukraine.

And while politicians talk about conversations, Ukrainians continue to fight and die.

The villagers gather for the funeral of a local soldier, named Olexander. Half of the graves in the cemetery are freshly dug.

The ceremony cannot last more than 25 minutes because of the threat of artillery. The mourners trembled and tried for cover when his comrades shoot a greeting greeting.

“I have no hope of ending fire,” says his widow Natalia, who still wants to be wrong.

“They just continue to send more and more than our boys to the front. If only they can find some way to end it.”

Along with the river, a railway line was discarded, surrounded by barbed wire.

“This is to stop Russian agents from sabotage the track,” explains Lyudmila Volik, who has lived in a small cateterinic throughout her life.

Trains used to run to Crimea to the south.

“We hope that one day will be restored,” says the 65 -year -old optimically. “And that one day we will go to our Crimea.”

Eleven years of the Russian occupation of the peninsula find it difficult to imagine.

President Zelenski insists that he will not sign any agreement that does not include Ukraine, so Ludmila trusts him to receive a deal that protects her?

“We want to believe it,” she replies after a deep breath.

If Donald Trump brings peace to Ukraine, this will be welcomed in many neighborhoods.

The prospect of continuous nights, the sirens fell and soldiers for whom they were returning home was longing.

But as things are, any relief will quickly be overwhelmed by the questions unanswered how a truce will be and who will impose it.

Kiev will see this absence of details as something that still needs to be played. The problem for Ukraine is that it will be Russia.

Additional reporting from Svitlana Libet, Toby Luckhurst and Hanna Chornous