What Does Just Peace Mean for Ukrainians?

Two years ago in the city of Pervomaisk in Ukraine’s southern Mykolayiv region, a group of women raised a toast for “victory.” Now, two years later, their toast is for peace. “I want my son to come home,” one woman says.

As the war nears its third year, discussions about how it might end are intensifying. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, alongside his American counterpart, US President Donald Trump, appears to be making progress toward brokering a resolution. Yet, the biggest uncertainty remains Russia—and whether it actually wants peace.

However, conversations about ending the war predate Trump’s presidency. Since the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Zelenskyy has consistently appealed to Western allies, first introducing his 10-point peace plan in 2022. Within Ukraine, polls and studies have sought to gauge public sentiment, bringing issues of justice, territorial integrity, and future security guarantees into the public discourse.

A recent New Europe Center poll found that 64% of Ukrainians believe their country should not enter negotiations with Russia without Western security guarantees. Individuals aged 30-39 were the most open to negotiations, but the majority of Ukrainians remain unwilling to cede territory in exchange for a promise of peace. Given Russia’s history of broken agreements and the lingering horrors of occupation, most see such deals as building on shifting sands—unstable and untrustworthy.

Polls provide a broad perspective on Ukrainian sentiment, but what about those most directly affected? To understand how a just peace is viewed by those who have lost their homes and communities, UNITED24 Media speaks with Ukrainians who fled occupied territories—people for whom peace is not just a policy debate, but a deeply personal question.

Maksym Kalyna, Mariupol

For all Ukrainians to finally be able to not only return but to see their home: Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, and every other corner of Ukraine that is currently occupied. That is complete de-occupation and restoration of territorial integrity.

Maksym

Ania Ka, Sevastopol, Crimea

A just peace is to come home on the Kyiv-Sevastopol train.

Ania

Iryna Berintseva, Nova Kahkovka

A just peace is when every Ukrainian can safely enter his or her home without borders, filtration camps, or fear.

Iryna

Tetiana Vasiukhno, Donetsk

For me it means the release of all our people from captivity, the return of the borders of 1991, the punishment of all war criminals and all Russians involved in the war.

Tetiana

Vladyslava Bilous, Kreminna, Luhansk region

Just peace is to know that all the internally displaced people can safely return home, that POWs are freed, and that there are no civilian Ukrainians kept in Russia’s prisons. For me, it also means that all those who crossed our border intended to destroy us will be punished. Not only the soldiers but also Putin, his allies, the Russians who supported this, who financed the war.

Vladyslava

For Ukrainians, just peace is not merely the absence of war—it is the full restoration of territorial integrity, the safe return of those displaced, and accountability for those who waged aggression. While international discussions on ending the war continue, voices from within Ukraine paint a clear picture: peace cannot come at the cost of justice. Ukrainians from occupied territories long to see their homes again, to travel freely without borders or filtration camps, and to reunite with loved ones taken as prisoners of war.

As global leaders deliberate the future of Ukraine, the people most affected by the war have made their stance clear. True peace means victory—a victory not just in reclaiming land, but in ensuring security, justice, and a future where no Ukrainian fears another invasion. For them, anything less would not be peace, but merely a pause before the next battle.