Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lofty ambitions for a summit in Switzerland this weekend, but on the front line and in war-fatigued Kyiv, hopes for any major breakthrough are nearly nil.
The conference convening some 90 countries and global institutions is coming at a perilous moment for exhausted Ukrainians and outgunned soldiers, after more than two years of war.
Sergiy, a deputy commander of a tank brigade deployed to the eastern Donetsk region where fighting is fiercest, said that when powerbrokers sit down to really thrash out an end to fighting, it probably won't be at a plush summit.
"Politics is politics," the 36-year-old told AFP, sceptical that the meeting would improve the situation in the Donetsk.
"Good weapons will do something, that's for sure."
Danylo, a 23-year-old drone operator also said the gathering would not bring about "drastic" changes.
"It's probably more of a symbolic event," he said.
Under-resourced Ukrainian forces have been ceding village after village in the east and north to determined Russian attacks, forcing authorities to announce mandatory civilian evacuations. - No 'high hopes' - The army has launched a mobilisation drive that has instilled fear among the population that fathers, husbands and sons will be dispatched to the front.
And Russian strikes have knocked out or hindered electricity supplies for millions of Ukrainians, leaving them in the dark for hours on end.
In the capital, 36-year-old Victoria, who works in the energy industry, said she was "exhausted" by the war and that she wanted to believe the summit would help end it. But her expectations were tempered.
"I'm a realist in life, so I don't have high hopes."
Zelensky has said one of the key points raised at the summit would be the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The issue has deep resonance with 40-year-old Lidia Rybas, who says she has "big expectations" for the talks in Switzerland.
"My own brother is a prisoner of war with the Russians. I am more concerned about this topic," she said.
Oleksandr, a 22-year-old information security specialist, was blunt.
"I believe that the war will end in a brutal military way," he said, allowing that the meeting might offer some momentary "hope."
"But still, the issue of ending the war will be decided on the battlefield," he added.
