Ukrainians Brace for a Longer War as Trump Backs Off Cease-Fire Call

From where Olena Boiko lives in Sumy, a Ukrainian city under relentless bombardment by Russia, the idea that President Trump may be stepping back from his role trying to end the war in Ukraine was disappointing but hardly surprising.

Mr. Trump’s diplomatic effort was a “theatrical performance that has nothing to do with the reality of trenches or bomb shelters,” Ms. Boiko said on Tuesday.

She and her family, she said, had suffered immense losses and desperately wanted the war to end. “My daughters and I have lost the most precious things to this war — my husband, their father, and my childhood home, which was destroyed down to its foundation,” she said.

Mr. Trump took office declaring he could swiftly end the war. But after a phone call on Monday with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Trump suggested he was prepared to step back.

For many Ukrainians, the call was the last gasp of a chaotic process that few believed had any chance of success as long as Washington refused to pressure Moscow. And that means the devastating war will rage on.

Mr. Trump did not appear to have demanded concessions from Russia or to have been offered any. He abandoned his call for an immediate cease-fire and said that only Ukraine and Russia could resolve their differences.