Star Metro - Ukrainians sceptical of Trump, Putin promises

Tuesday's call did not secure the ceasefire, which was endorsed by Ukraine last week, and yielded only a Russian promise to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days.

Soldiers who spoke to AFP in eastern Ukraine were not surprised with the result.

"I think that there will never be a ceasefire from Russia, because this is a country that has been at war all its existence. It is probably in their DNA to go to war against a country," 33-year-old soldier Oleg told AFP on Wednesday.

Roman, 33, argued a ceasefire on energy would benefit Moscow.

"This is beneficial for Putin... he doesn't want his oil depots to be bombed because his tanks will need to refuel," he said.

Ukraine has been hitting Russian energy infrastructure in frequent long-range drone strikes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued the order to pause strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities after the call with Trump on Tuesday, part of a rapprochement initiated by Washington that seeks to broker an end to the conflict.

But talks between the US and Russia worried Roman.

"Because I've spent a lot of time (fighting)... not only me, but many guys have paid the biggest price for peace," he said.

"It's impossible to negotiate with terrorists," agreed Rys, the 26-year-old commander of a drone unit.

- 'Constantly on alert' -

In the Ukrainian capital, civilians expressed similar distrust.

"I don't believe Putin at all, not a single word he says," said Lev Sholudko, a Kyiv resident.

An air raid alert wailed in the capital shortly after the call on Tuesday, warning of a new wave of strikes that killed one person and damaged two hospitals in Ukraine.

"You can't trust Putin at all because Russia has repeatedly shown that it does not adhere to any agreements," Sholudko said.

Ukraine had been pushing for the US-led proposal of a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.

But Putin said that, for a wider truce to work, Ukraine must not be allowed to rearm and must halt mandatory mobilisation.

"That's unacceptable for us," answered Karyna, a 25-year-old who said she was convinced Russia "will be preparing something and we have to be ready for it."

Her scepticism was shared by Veronika Zilnova, a 27-year-old social media moderator.

"We need to be constantly armed, constantly on the alert, because we have been standing up for our country for three years, and we cannot just give up, or trust anyone," Zilnova said, tearing up thinking about fallen soldiers.

She cautioned against believing Putin but hoped that Trump was "trying to hear both sides" and could potentially "be a plus for our country."

Sholudko disagreed, saying Trump initiating a rapprochement with Moscow showed he was "Putin's man."

"The only right way out of all this is more weapons for Ukraine. This is the only guarantee that Ukraine will be an independent, strong, democratic country," he said.

P.Graham--SMC