President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to broker a peace deal in Ukraine, but as he prepares to take office, peace seems as elusive as ever.

The war has reached a critical point. A real peace seems unlikely, but a ceasefire is possible, most experts agree. The question is whether it can be achieved without placing Ukraine in further peril.

Ukrainians remain sceptical about Donald Trump's ability to swiftly end the ongoing conflict with Russia. Many, like student Liudmyla Parybus and bakery owner Hanna Horbachova, feel that Ukraine's fate is in their own hands.

For peace to prevail, a compromise needs to be reached not only between Russia and Ukraine but also between the US Trump-led West and Russia.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to quickly end the war in Ukraine. He’d do it in “24 hours” after taking the oath, he said, or even before his inauguration. But as he prepares to return to the White House,

Those fighting for Ukraine and those who have lost loved ones hope to end the war with Russia on their own terms.

Just as he once stated that he would resolve the healthcare crisis in the US easily, then backtracked to say “nobody knew that health care was so complicated ”, Trump’s advisors have now admitted the war in Ukraine can’t be easily negotiated.

A growing number of Ukrainians are skeptical about US President-elect Donald Trump’s ability to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. According to a December poll conducted by Gradus Research and reported by Reuters,