'We will fight' — We asked Ukrainian soldiers about Trump's latest outburst

U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 18 claimed his approach to ending the war in Ukraine is "very simple."

In a post on Truth Social, Trump explained that his decision to ease sanctions on Russia while simultaneously piling pressure on Ukraine was to avoid "foolishly (driving) Russia away from the bargaining table."

For many of Trump’s critics in Ukraine, his recent decisions are viewed in similarly simple terms — Trump is helping Russia win the war.

Trump also doubled down on his criticism of President Volodymyr Zelensky, and appeared to suggest that Ukraine's position in the war was untenable.

"He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now. His country is in shambles, a large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded, and/or dead. I WANT THIS WAR END!"

But as Russia escalates its aerial bombardment of Ukraine's cities, its forces remain largely stuck on the front lines.

And as Operation Vivaldi has shown, in some sectors Moscow's troops are actually going backwards.

The Kyiv Independent asked X Ukrainian soldiers what they thought about Trump's latest outburst…

Some soldiers asked to be identified by callsign or first name only for security reasons.

Bohdan,
a serviceman

The enemy has not achieved any successes that would suggest a victory on their part. Civilians are the most susceptible to a decline in morale — especially lately, as Russia has been launching mass strikes against civilian infrastructure.

I wouldn't take Trump's words seriously.

He is a media-focused, overly talkative, choleric, elderly, and unwell man.

Artem Kariakin,
soldier and former partisan

In my opinion, Trump is seeking to bring the fighting in Ukraine to an end by any means necessary, including through Ukraine’s capitulation. He confidently declared to the entire world that he would stop the war in Ukraine, yet year after year he has failed to do so. People no longer believe these claims, and consequently, his slogan that "this war would never have happened under my presidency" is also raising more and more doubts.

It is absolutely clear to me that he is concerned primarily with his own image and approval ratings. That is why he has repeatedly threatened Ukraine — a country that is defending itself against aggression and fighting for its own land. I do not think Trump is genuinely interested in the actual situation on the battlefield. He can easily take Putin’s claims at face value when Putin says that Russia controls certain Ukrainian towns and cities that Russian forces have been unable to reach for years.

I never thought I would see the day when the Russian population, living under the constant influence of propaganda, would be more skeptical of Putin’s claims than the American president.

As for morale at the front, we are not giving up. By now, we have grown accustomed to Trump’s statements and his constantly shifting attitude — from threats against Putin one day to threats against Zelenskyy the next. But when it came to the situation with Starlink, for example, most of us were stunned.

Any restrictions affecting the main communication tool we rely on at the front are not a way of forcing us into a ceasefire at any cost. They are a shove in the back of every one of us, putting our lives at risk. When our hands are tied and we are prevented from defending our own lives and the lives of our loved ones, it hits us hard psychologically. It is not merely a slap in our faces; it is a slap in the face of the entire civilized world.

I hope Trump abandons the idea of using our lives as leverage and understands that we will continue fighting to the end regardless. Otherwise, he risks going down in history as the president who betrayed the entire civilized world.

Returning to the situation on the battlefield, Russia has clearly become bogged down along the front line and is retreating in some sectors. And, as if by some cruel law of nature, every time Russia begins to lose the initiative on the battlefield, those whom we thought were our allies start putting obstacles in our way.

It is especially painful to watch this happen at a time when Putin, faced with the hopelessness of Russia’s situation on the battlefield, has shifted almost entirely toward a strategy of terror against Ukrainian civilians. He is no longer betting on victory at the front — having realized that he cannot defeat the Ukrainian army — but instead on breaking and defeating our civilian population.

But President Trump, and the international community as a whole, must understand one thing — in February 2022, I picked up a weapon and went out to defend Kyiv without even having a helmet or proper body armor. All I had was a Kalashnikov light machine gun, while massive columns of the Russian army were advancing toward our district of the capital. There were many of us like that.

Back then, there was no talk of Starlink or Tomahawks. We went into battle fully aware of how slim our chances were, prepared to fight off an enormous enemy army with little more than our bare hands.

Today, we have a massive army of our own, our own weapons and strike capabilities, and technologies that many countries around the world cannot replicate.

Even if the entire world turns its back on us, we will still stand and fight for our country — because we are Ukrainians.

Illia,
a serviceman in an air assault brigade

In my opinion, the best option is to achieve peace along the current line of contact. The main priority is to stop the bloodshed and save lives.

Morale is dropping every day.

Those who have been fighting since the very beginning are exhausted, and few have any desire to continue. Especially when faced with such injustice.

Trump acts in his own country's interests; for them, it is better if this war ends, as it yields nothing positive. In this situation, neither side — neither us nor Russia — will win, so it is difficult to discuss any clear outcome.

As for why he is pressuring us rather than Russia — I suspect it is simply because we are the weaker party.