DONETSK REGION, Ukraine (AP) — In a plastic-lined dugout where nearby blasts send dirt raining from the ceiling, Ukrainian soldiers say peace talks feel distant and unlikely to end the war. Explosions from Russian weapons — from glide bombs to artillery shells — thunder overhead, keeping the soldiers underground except when they fire the M777 howitzer buried near their trench.

Nothing on the Eastern Front suggests the fighting could end soon.

Soldiers’ skepticism over diplomatic peace efforts is rooted in months of what they see as broken U.S. promises to end the war quickly.

Recent suggestions by U.S. President Donald Trump that there will be some ” swapping of territories” — and media reports that it would involve Ukrainian troops leaving the Donetsk region where they have

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