KYIV, Ukraine — Olha Predchenko held hands with her 85-year-old mother as they looked at the makeshift memorial on the grass in central Kyiv, each blue and yellow flag marked with the name of a soldier who had died fighting in the war with Russia. They come here often to Maidan Square, to spend time thinking about the dead and the war. Ms. Predchenko said she dreamed of something heavy falling on the Kremlin. But she also hoped for a peace deal soon.
“Better a bad peace than a good war,” added Ms. Predchenko, 61.
Increasingly frustrated, more Ukrainians appear to be opening up to the idea of a negotiated peace, even as they remain vague about what that means.
Most Ukrainians still oppose ceding any territory to Russia, not even the Crimean peninsula that was seized by Russia 10 years ago, polls show. But those polls and recent remarks by the country’s leaders also highlight a palpable shift in the conversation around peace talks — from a no-deal-not-ever to a maybe-compromise-at-some-point.
| Image | Description |
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 | Men biking through an exhibition of destroyed military equipment in Kyiv.
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 | People walk in the underground crossing in Bucha. |
