Novopavlivka, Ukraine – Standing beside a bombed-out milling plant in his village, Mykola Havrylov expressed his frustration and powerlessness as U.S. and Russian officials discuss an end to a three-year-old war that is inching ever closer to his home in southeastern Ukraine.
Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops is now just eight miles (13 km) from Novopavlivka, a village in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where residents like Havrylov are concerned about Ukraine’s exclusion from U.S.-Russia talks this week. Many people living near the front line want the war to end but fear that any deal agreed between the U.S. and Russia could force Ukraine to make painful territorial concessions, leaving them vulnerable to continued Russian advances.
“It’s a very, very negative trend, but I have no influence over it,” said Havrylov, the former village head of Novopavlivka.
As U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration seeks a swift resolution to Moscow’s invasion without including Kyiv at the table, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has insisted that talks on ending the war cannot be held behind Ukraine’s back.
The White House announced on Tuesday that it would hold further discussions with Russia after an initial meeting in Saudi Arabia, marking a departure from Washington’s previous approach that sought to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin with U.S. allies.
Kyiv has demanded robust security guarantees, including the promise of Western peacekeepers. Zelenskiy has repeatedly asserted that Russia is not interested in peace and simply wants a ceasefire to rebuild its forces and invade again.
Russian Troops Draw Closer
On the battlefield, Ukraine’s outmanned and outgunned troops are struggling to halt a grinding Russian advance across the industrial Donbas region. Moscow’s forces are now nearing the Dnipropetrovsk region, which serves as a buffer between the war-torn east and Ukraine’s central heartland.
Russian airstrikes on Novopavlivka have become more frequent since the start of the year, residents reported. Homes scarred by guided bombs line once-quiet streets that now serve as key routes for Ukrainian armored vehicles. Helicopters buzz low overhead, and the constant sound of explosions and heavy machine gun fire can be heard.
“It’s painful to look at this, and painful to realize the front is now nearby,” said Yurii Bilyk, a school director, as he gestured to the rubble of his badly damaged school building.
European officials have also been stunned by the Trump administration’s recent moves on Ukraine. At an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday, they called for increased defense spending but remained divided on deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine.
Havrylov expressed dismay that Ukraine’s Western partners had not provided more urgent military and diplomatic support as Russian forces advance.
“I don’t understand it, and I think I’m not the only one,” he said.