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This Isn’t Russia, Never Was, and Never Will Be: Ukrainians Under Occupation Reject Trump’s Peace Proposals

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 "This Isn’t Russia, Never Was, and Never Will Be: Ukrainians Under Occupation Reject Trump’s Peace Proposals"



As peace talks between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin re-emerge on the global stage, Ukrainians living under Russian occupation find themselves once again caught in the crossfire — this time not of bullets, but of backroom diplomacy. Their message is loud and unwavering: “This isn’t Russia, never was, and never will be.”

Trump’s proposed peace plan, rumored to include a partitioning of Ukraine akin to post-war Germany, has ignited fear and outrage among Ukrainian civilians, particularly those trapped in territories controlled by Russian forces. Suggestions that the West could oversee a demilitarized western Ukraine while effectively conceding eastern territories to Russia have been met with fierce resistance — both by the Ukrainian government and its people.

“We are not bargaining chips,” says Khrystyna, a schoolteacher in the Russian-occupied Kharkiv region. “We live under constant surveillance. We speak Ukrainian in whispers. We’re terrified, but we are still Ukrainian. And we don’t want Trump or Putin deciding otherwise behind closed doors.”

Her fears are echoed across occupied regions, where reports of forced Russification, kidnappings, and crackdowns on Ukrainian culture have become the norm. From changing school curriculums to punishing the use of the Ukrainian language in public, residents say the Kremlin is trying to erase their identity — a slow, cruel assimilation cloaked in military control.

What’s most alarming to many Ukrainians is the idea that the United States — long seen as a crucial ally — might entertain peace proposals that leave parts of Ukraine permanently under Russian rule. The mere suggestion that the country could be divided is perceived as a betrayal of the principles of sovereignty and freedom that have defined Ukraine’s post-2014 trajectory.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has been clear: Ukraine will not accept any deal negotiated without its direct involvement. “As an independent country, we simply cannot accept any agreements without us,” he said during a recent statement. His position reflects the wider sentiment among his citizens: Ukraine’s future cannot be shaped by foreign powers looking to strike a convenient deal with Putin.

To many under occupation, Trump’s rhetoric feels like a page out of a darker history — one they’re determined not to repeat. “We’re not just defending land,” says Mykola, a displaced father of two from Mariupol. “We’re defending who we are. And no politician in Washington or Moscow can decide that we’re Russian. Because we’re not.”

The statement "This isn't Russia, never was, and never will be" has become more than a defiant slogan — it is a declaration of identity, resistance, and a warning to world leaders who might mistake diplomacy for justice.

For the millions of Ukrainians whose lives have been upended by war, the path to peace is not through compromise with occupation. It is through restoration — of territory, of freedom, and of Ukraine’s rightful place as a sovereign nation on the world stage.


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