{"id":48427,"date":"2026-01-22T14:49:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/01\/22\/a-soap-opera-how-ukraines-frontline-soldiers-view-peace-talks\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:25:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:25:28","slug":"a-soap-opera-how-ukraines-frontline-soldiers-view-peace-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2026\/01\/22\/a-soap-opera-how-ukraines-frontline-soldiers-view-peace-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A soap opera\u2019: How Ukraine\u2019s frontline soldiers view peace talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ZHYTOMYR, Ukraine \u2014 \u201cThese peace talks<\/a> feel like cognitive dissonance to me,\u201d \u201cPrimo\u201d wrote in a message to Military Times while deployed in southern Ukraine\u2019s Zaporizhzhia region, home to Europe\u2019s largest nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian occupation<\/a> since the early weeks of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 42-year-old air reconnaissance squad commander added that the sense among his troops are that the talks are \u201cpointless\u201d and \u201cirrelevant.\u201d Military Times agreed to refer to all active duty soldiers by their nom de guerre for operational security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talks that kicked off with a November ultimatum by President Donald Trump have continued this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Putin\u2019s envoy Kirill Dmitriev arrived Monday for direct meetings with U.S. negotiators \u2014 the first time a Kremlin<\/a> representative has attended the forum since the full-scale invasion began, according to The Kyiv Independent<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attendance also points toward how far the negotiations have moved from back-channel messaging into public, high-level contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After days of uncertainty over whether he would attend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Switzerland on Thursday to meet with Trump, where he described feeling like Ukraine was living through a deadly replay of the film \u201cGroundhog\u2019s Day\u201d as uncertainty over America\u2019s role in the world spilled onto the world stage, per BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for those still enduring the fight at the core of those talks, the peace process has become \u201ca soap opera,\u201d Primo said, which he claimed is based on the \u201cego of one particular man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The talks may be framed as high strategy, but on the front, they\u2019re experienced as something more personal: a question of whether their sacrifice buys true security \u2014 or gets traded away for just another pause in the fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That disconnect is sharpened by how undefined the \u201cguarantees\u201d still are. Ukraine is not covered by NATO\u2019s Article 5 collective-defense clause, and proposals circulating around the talks have described various forms of outside security backing \u2014 without a clear trigger, timeline or enforcement mechanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding what security promises will be cemented in the US-brokered peace plan has been a challenge<\/a> since it was first leaked to the press in November, and quickly linked to a Russian-authored proposal circulated earlier last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A Russian soldier guards an area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in 2022. (AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One 36-year-old platoon commander known as \u201cProrab\u201d \u2014 slang for \u201cForeman\u201d in English \u2014 stated in messages to Military times from the zero line in the Zaporizhzhia sector that the peace talks have felt like an emotional rollercoaster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I hear \u2018ceasefire\u2019 or \u2018a deal,\u2019 my first thought is: maybe this hell is finally ending,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was mobilized in 2022 and \u201cfought in many battles\u201d before taking up his current role in Ukraine\u2019s First Separate Assault Regiment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy biggest fear is that after a deal,\u201d he said. \u201cThose bastards will regroup, dig in and start the war all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018War of exhaustion\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A refusal to back a settlement that favors Russia isn\u2019t limited to Ukraine\u2019s trenches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A January survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology<\/a> found 69% of Ukrainians would accept a deal that freezes the front lines with security guarantees \u2014 as long as occupied territories aren\u2019t formally recognized as Russian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But 74% reject any framework that requires troop withdrawals or military limits without those guarantees. A clear majority, 62%, say they will keep fighting as long as it takes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey suggests Ukrainians can imagine a freeze \u2014 but only if it comes with real security and no legal surrender of occupied land. That\u2019s the same core fear soldiers describe in plainer language: that a \u201cdeal\u201d without teeth is just an intermission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not every soldier described the talks as abstract or farcical \u2014 for some, the dominant feeling was betrayal, especially toward Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a training site in Zhytomyr, a Georgian-Ukrainian special operations soldier who goes by \u201cSparrow\u201d told Military Times he feels \u201cconfused and betrayed by the recent peace talks. And especially by the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has fought alongside many American veterans in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion almost four years ago, he said. Now, he could not believe how quickly Washington went from Kyiv\u2019s most \u201csteadfast ally\u201d to a \u201cwildcard\u201d no one could count on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were our brothers, and now they seem like they\u2019re abandoning us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Smoke rises over a sunflower field on the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, 2023. (Libkos\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As negotiators work behind the scenes, Russia continues its aerial campaign against Ukraine\u2019s critical energy infrastructure, sending wave after wave of attacks that have left millions in the dark during the coldest months of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter all, this is the war of exhaustion,\u201d Primo said. \u201cAnd we are exhausted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine\u2019s new defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, told parliament that around 200,000 soldiers are currently AWOL, and that roughly 2 million Ukrainians are wanted for alleged mobilization violations \u2014 a scale-of-force problem that sits underneath every negotiating headline, the Associated Press<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

October alone saw a record 21,602 desertion cases, per The Kyiv Independent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the challenges, Primo said he believes in Ukraine\u2019s staying power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI trust the stubbornness of my fellow citizens,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s their allies they worry most about. For Foreman, everything about the peace deal hinges on enforcement possibilities from partners. We need \u201creal guarantees,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom a country that can actually keep its word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red lines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Any settlement that touches borders would also collide with political reality inside Ukraine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primo said he is convinced Ukraine\u2019s government still has limits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe that there are certain red lines that any Ukrainian politician is not yet ready to cross.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainska Pravda<\/a> reported last month that Zelenskyy said territorial questions and approval of any comprehensive peace plan must ultimately be decided by Ukrainians through a nationwide vote and parliamentary ratification \u2014 making progress towards the war\u2019s real end easier said than done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human cost behind those red lines is already immense. More than 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the full-scale invasion began, U.S. officials estimated over a year ago, per Reuters<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soldiers who spoke to Military Times said politicians in Kyiv and Washington need to understand what that number means before they sign anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBrothers who gave their lives will never be forgotten or erased,\u201d Sparrow said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Medics help a wounded Ukrainian soldier at a medical stabilisation point near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, May 2023. (AP\/Libkos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In his view, a deal that rewards conquest would not just redraw borders \u2014 it would tell Moscow that brutality pays, and that after enough suffering, the world will still move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t accept a peace deal that hands Russia a prize for its attempted genocide,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demand for \u201cjustice\u201d has been taken up by the International Criminal Court<\/a>, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023 over the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, Trump met Putin at Alaska\u2019s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson<\/a> in August \u2014 offering a red carpet for the wanted leader that sharpened fears in Kyiv that Russia can continue to bomb Ukraine and still be treated as a great power on an equal diplomatic playing field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sparrow framed the danger as precedent: reward Russia for invasion, and it won\u2019t stop with Ukraine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere must be justice, and Russia must be stopped from doing this again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of the soldiers interviewed expected the war to end cleanly. They described negotiations as inevitable \u2014 but only meaningful if they produce enforceable guarantees and consequences strong enough to keep Russia from returning to finish the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sparrow said he would oppose any settlement that risks locking in another cycle of war for the next generation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI won\u2019t vote for any peace deal if it means my children may have to fight the same enemy that me and my father both spent our lives battling against.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primo spoke with certainty: \u201cAt the moment, accepting Russian demands will mean more war during my lifetime,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would mean despair for those who fought, distrust in the government, apathy in the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many officials feel similarly. A senior European diplomat told Military Times in December that the American-led peace deal “scares the bejesus out of us<\/a>” and appeared to benefit Russia more than Western allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public is skeptical, too. KIIS found that only 10% of Ukrainians expect the war to end by the beginning of 2026, with just another 16% expecting it to end in the first half of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, negotiators have yet to sign off on a deal with enough enforcement or consequences to convince soldiers that any agreement is more than just a pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWars don\u2019t end in victories,\u201d Foreman wrote from the frozen front. \u201cThey end in agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“This is the war of exhaustion,\u201d said one Ukrainian soldier at the front. \u201cAnd we are exhausted. … [But] I trust the stubbornness of my fellow citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":106282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-post-featured-layout","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3480],"class_list":["post-48427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"S67IBSENR5C4NPU23DGBXPVGQE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2026\/01\/22\/a-soap-opera-how-ukraines-frontline-soldiers-view-peace-talks\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"featured-layout","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n\u2018A soap opera\u2019: How Ukraine\u2019s frontline soldiers view peace talks - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""This is the war of exhaustion,\u201d said one Ukrainian soldier at the front. \u201cAnd we are exhausted. ... 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