Support among Ukrainians for a negotiated solution to end the war with Russia has increased over the past nine months to almost half of the population, an opinion poll shows.
Now 44% of the population believes that it is necessary to “seek compromise solutions in negotiations involving other countries”.
While the war continues into the winter and continues to claim lives on both sides, there are no signs yet that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to use diplomacy to end the fighting. Instead, Zelensky has repeatedly declared that one of Kiev’s war aims is to retake Russian-occupied territory in the Donbas region and Crimea.
However, a survey by the Ukrainian sociological company Rating has shown that people in Ukraine are more open to peace negotiations than they were in February.
The survey found that 44% of respondents in November felt it was necessary to “seek compromise solutions in negotiations with other countries” to end the war – up from 35% in February, a year after the war began.
Younger people more willing to compromise
Although last month’s figure of 44% is a slight decline from the 48% of respondents who believed in peace negotiations in the September survey, the proportion of Ukrainians who are in favor of fighting until all Russian-controlled territories are retaken has decreased over the course of the year.
In February, 60% of respondents said that fighting should continue “until all territories are liberated”, but this attitude dropped to 48% last month.
The Ukrainian news agency Strana notes that younger Ukrainians (aged 18-35) and those living in the east of the country are most likely to advocate a compromise to end the war.
“Ukrainians are almost equally divided on the question of how to end the military conflict with Russia, notes the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
According to an earlier opinion poll conducted by the Russian Fields Institute in November, the Russian population is also war-weary, with some 48% of respondents wanting to see peace talks to end the war.
