According to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), 32% of the Ukrainian people today would agree to territorial concessions if this would lead to an end to the war.
The sociological institute surveyed 1,067 people in the country between May 16 and 22 this year – and it can be noted that 32% ready to cede territory is a sharp increase from 19% at the end of last year and only 10% a year ago.
At the same time, 55% of Ukrainians say they are still completely against any territorial concessions.
“Nearly 29 months since its full-scale invasion, Russia occupies around 18% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula it seized in 2014. Kyiv’s troops have been on the back foot this year facing a Russian offensive after their counteroffensive failed to make significant gains last year.”, Reuters reports.
“Parameters for peace”
It should be noted that the survey did not go into detail about what territorial concessions the Ukrainian people are open to, or the extent of those concessions. Also, according to KIIS, not all respondents necessarily believe that the territories that would be ceded today should be recognized as Russian in the future.
“For example, some people are ready to postpone the liberation of certain territories until the future at a better time”, it says in a statement.
It also emphasizes that the results should not be interpreted to mean that Ukrainians are ready to agree to “peace on any terms” or to surrender, but that the survey “measures the extent to which Ukrainians in general are ready to discuss the possible parameters of peace in the context of the issue of territorial control”.
