You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Focused More on Power Outages, Ukrainians See U.S. Peace Push as NoiseMany understand the dance their leaders must perform to appease President Trump. But that doesn’t make them any less weary of the rounds and rounds of talks.Chernihiv, Ukraine, during power outages, last week.Focused More on Power Outages, Ukrainians See U.S. Peace Push as NoiseMany understand the dance their leaders must perform to appease President Trump. But that doesn’t make them any less weary of the rounds and rounds of talks.Chernihiv, Ukraine, during power outages, last week.Credit...By Kim BarkerVisuals by Laetitia VançonReporting from Kyiv, UkraineDec. 12, 2025Every morning, Anna Kuzmishcheva checks online for what has become the most important information in Ukraine related to the war.She is not looking for developments in peace talks. Instead, she monitors the government’s daily update on how many hours of electricity she will have that day — sometimes six, sometimes nine — and when she will have them.For Ms. Kuzmishcheva and other Ukrainians, the latest diplomatic bustle orchestrated by the United States is just noise, a dance performed by the country’s leaders in the hope that the Trump administration will not entirely abandon Ukraine.Many Ukrainians say they believe the United States has sided with Russia and is rushing to check another peacemaking box at any cost to Ukraine. Whatever concessions their country might make, Ukrainians say, Russia has no interest in a deal anyway.Pushed again onto the American diplomatic merry-go-round, Ukrainians are focused less on the number of points in a peace plan and more on how to live through regularly scheduled blackouts as Russian forces bombard the electrical system.“I barely believe anything will come from these negotiations,” said Ms. Kuzmishcheva, 38, who works in the pharmaceutical industry and lives near Kyiv, the capital. “This has happened so many times — nothing ever comes out of it. With time, hope fades, and people have very little patience left.”Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT
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