It’s been nearly three years since Yevheniia Shymshyrian, 37, fled Kharkiv for London but she has still not learnt how to tear herself away from the news from her homeland.
“My day starts with news and ends with news,” she told The Telegraph. “My family is still living in Kharkiv, where they are facing bombing almost every day.”
This is the reality for thousands of Ukrainians who fled their home country for the UK, many of whom left loved ones behind and remain constantly plugged into updates from the front, particularly since Donald Trump returned to the White House promising to bring peace.
The Republican president pledged during his election campaign to end the war in Ukraine within his first 24 hours in the White House. He moderated that claim on taking office, suggesting a deal by April or May as obstacles mounted.
But peace efforts took another pessimistic turn on Friday when Mr Trump threatened to walk away from talks “very shortly” if a ceasefire is not reached soon.
The US president said he did not want to abandon the negotiations, but would “take a pass” if parties make it difficult to reach an agreement. “If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re going to say you’re fools, you’re foolish, and we’re just going to take a pass,” Mr Trump said.
Dissatisfied with peace negotiations
Meanwhile, a survey by World Jewish Relief, a humanitarian agency working across Ukraine, found that 85 per cent of Ukrainian refugees in the UK are dissatisfied with the current course of peace negotiations.
It’s a sentiment Ms Shymshyrian knows all too well, as she fears Mr Trump is aligning Washington with Moscow’s view of the war – including by blaming Ukraine for starting it.
“It’s terrible that Trump has normalised Putin again, which is heartbreaking for me,” she said.
“Before, no one wanted to speak with Putin and now the president of the United States is calling him, sending government officials to talk and shake hands. It’s ridiculous for me, for people living in Ukraine, fighting.”