The historic city of Lviv in western Ukraine is nearly 1,000km from the front line, but the war with Russia invades the lives of its 700,000 people every day.
Air-raid sirens wailed over the Unesco-listed old town before dawn on Tuesday, and explosions shook people awake as air defences downed jet-powered attack drones on the edge of the city. Several houses and cars were set on fire, but no one was hurt.
During nearly five years of all-out war, Lviv residents have reluctantly grown accustomed to sleepless nights, days spent with a weary eye on news from the battlefield, and the slow procession of funeral cars through the city as another fallen soldier is laid to rest.
Like all Ukrainians, including president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, they have also got used to the tirades of Donald Trump as he repeatedly wields the stick against Kyiv and dangles carrots before Moscow in his flailing attempts to end the Russian invasion.
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In recent days, Trump has lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports, ordered Kyiv to stop bombing Russia’s oil refineries and told Ukrainians to “get a new president”, before announcing an “energy ceasefire” between the warring neighbours that neither of them appeared to know anything about.
Helena, walking past the Lviv city hall that dominates Market Square, says it is impossible to rely on Trump.
“I don’t think that I, or European leaders and people, can trust him. He says one thing today and another thing tomorrow,” she adds. “He should choose what he wants, and which side he is on.”
Trump has consistently piled pressure on Ukraine – lambasting Zelenskiy in the Oval Office last year, blaming him for the war, replacing US military aid for Kyiv with a purchasing scheme funded by other Nato states – while repeatedly backing down on threats to tighten sanctions on Russia.
[ Ukraine backs Trump’s energy ‘ceasefire’. But is Russia on board?Opens in new window ]
Andriy (48), standing on Market Square in the middle of old Lviv, lets fly a stream of invective at the mention of Trump.
“He is together with Putin,” he fumes, referring to Russia’s president.
“They are friends. It’s all about money – just business,” he adds, admitting he has no idea what to expect from Trump. “Who knows? God knows. He’s a stupid man.”
Mariya, wheeling her sleeping child past a Lviv flower market on a damp autumn morning, says the latest policy spasm from the White House leaves Ukraine “in a bad situation”.
“I am completely not agreeing with what he said,” she says of Trump’s demand that Zelenskiy should go.
“I hope some miracle will happen and [Trump] will change his mind. Also, I hope different politicians in the US and in Europe will help him understand. I hope he will change his mind and be a better man than he is now.”
Zelenskiy pointed out what energy analysts say is obvious – that Trump’s war on Iran is to blame for the spike in world fuel prices, and that Russian diesel exports will be too small to dramatically affect the market, but will help replenish Putin’s war chest.
He also said Ukraine would hold presidential elections if Russia adhered to a full two-month ceasefire.
“In Ukraine, there is a lot of criticism towards the government. There is depression, even devastation because of the war and bombings, and also the corruption scandals of recent years. Of course, people are unsatisfied,” says Vitaliy, an IT worker in Lviv.
“But – and I don’t think this is just a Ukrainian thing – we don’t like pressure and interference in our internal affairs. So I would even say that [Trump’s attack] gave Zelenskiy and his government more internal legitimacy,” he adds.
“In fact, it’s the same thing that Putin wants ... So we feel they are actually on the same side ... When and why and under what circumstances we have elections is for us to decide.”
“Of course Trump is not pro-Ukraine. The question is whether he is pro-Russian or even pro-American. It looks like he is pro-gain – maybe even personal gain or the gain of his allies,” Vitaliy says.
“It seems like it is simpler for him to talk to dictators like Putin or [North Korea’s] Kim Jong-un or the Chinese government ... and Ukraine and smaller countries are just like coins in his game. So I don’t trust him. Yesterday he supported us, and today he says we should surrender because he needs cheap oil.”
Trump’s fear of Republican defeat in next month’s midterm elections for Congress, and his continued failure to end a war that he said he could stop in one day, make for a volatile combination that could destroy the already badly frayed ties between the White House and Kyiv.
Ukrainians fear a furious Trump could pull the plug on Nato purchases of weapons for their country, and on its use of US intelligence and Starlink satellite internet services.
Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukraine had received “no early warning from our partners” the previous night about a “particularly vile” Russian ballistic missile strike on civilian infrastructure in Kyiv. It was not immediately clear why no signal came.
“I think we could survive,” Vitaliy says of the prospect of fighting on without any US help. “It would be hard for us. But Ukraine would remain.”
