Ukraine Braces for Trump’s Return

Could this be the year, as President-elect Donald J. Trump has promised, when Russia’s war against Ukraine is brought to an end?

The possibility of peace brings “tears to my eyes,” said Valeria, 30, an English teacher from eastern Ukraine.

As Mr. Trump prepares to return to the White House on Monday, he is promising peace in Ukraine, but publicly offering no strategy for how to achieve it — aside from his stated desire to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. So Ukrainians can only guess at what the coming months will bring.

No one, Valeria said, wants peace more than Ukrainians. But having suffered so much loss, with hundreds of thousands killed and injured, Ukrainians will not accept peace at any price, she said. She asked that her family name not be used out of fear for the safety of her father, who is still living under Russian occupation.

“Europe and America must remember that any cease-fire or negotiations will only be legitimate if they respect the sacrifices made by Ukrainians and ensure a just, secure and independent future for Ukraine,” she said.

Since Mr. Trump won re-election in November, The New York Times has spoken with dozens of Ukrainians — soldiers at the front, villagers forced to flee their homes and people in cities far removed from the battlefield but subject to missile bombardments — about their hopes and fears before his inauguration.