Across the Donetsk region, word of Steve Witkoff’s emerging deal with the Kremlin, confused in details, and immediately refused by Kyiv, has put lives already ravaged by war into a deeper spin.

Ukraine and its backers in Europe insist that the United States and Russia cannot decide on land swaps behind their backs at a summit this week, but the Europeans concede that Moscow is unlikely to give up control of Ukrainian land it holds.