They don’t want a settlement, but they don’t have much hope either: In a recent poll by two well-known institutions, an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians spoke out against a deal with their wartime foe, Russia. According to it, 90 percent of the 2,000 respondents are against the annexation of the territory, and 74 percent refuse to refrain from joining NATO as a condition for ending the war.
However, this makes the situation more bleak: according to the survey, only 49 percent are optimistic that the war will end well. A few months ago, in December last year, 60 percent of Ukrainians still believed that a war with Russia could be won.
Vladimir Putin, who currently controls 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, is demanding that Ukraine give up territories it annexed in the east and south of the country – including the Crimean peninsula it annexed in 2014 – as a condition for peace talks. is included. Furthermore, Kiev must refuse to join NATO and agree to broad demilitarization. But Ukrainians also reject the deal – 80 percent are against a reduction in the number of soldiers in the army.
