Nearly a third of Ukrainians are ready to any territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for an early end to the war, according to a poll published today. This is more than a threefold increase in their share in the last year, although the majority is still against giving up any territory, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) reported that its survey of 1,067 people in the territories controlled by the Ukrainian authorities and conducted between May 16 and 22 found that 32% of respondents agreed to some territorial concessions. This is up from just 10% a year ago and 19% at the end of last year. 55% of Ukrainians reportedly remain opposed to any territorial concessions.
Nearly 29 months after the start of its full-scale invasion, Russia controls nearly 18 percent of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which it occupied in 2014. Ukraine's armed forces have been retreating this year after last year's counteroffensive failed to achieve significant gains.
Respondents in the survey did not answer what territorial concessions they are willing to accept and how big they should be. KMIS reported that the respondents did not necessarily accept the concessions as recognition that the territories are part of Russia.
„Some people, for example, are ready to postpone the release of some territories until better times in the future,”, the institute said in a statement on the study.
In 2022, Russia unilaterally announced that it was annexing the partially controlled Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye. In remarks to the survey, KMIS executive director Anton Khrushetsky said Ukrainians remain opposed to the idea of making peace with Russia at any cost. “It is important that in the context of possible “discounts“ Ukrainians are against “peace under any conditions”, he declared.