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Almost half of Ukrainians want to begin peace negotiations

Only 35% of Ukrainians reject the prospect of peace negotiations with Russia. Credit: Getty

July 15, 2024 - 4:40pm

Nearly half of Ukrainians think the time has come to enter into peace talks with Russia, a new poll has shown. The results from the Ukrainian newspaper ZN,UA‘s poll reveal that 44% think peace negotiations should start but an overwhelming majority oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin’s current demands.

Some 83% said they would oppose Ukraine’s hypothetical withdrawal from war-stricken regions such as Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia to begin talks, and 84% would not support ceding those regions permanently to Russia in negotiations.

Putin has demanded that Ukraine pull troops from contested regions to trigger a ceasefire, maintaining that this on its own will not end the war. He also insists that assurances be made from Kyiv and Nato that Ukraine will have a “neutral, non-nuclear status”. While a minority (35%) of Ukrainians reject the notion of peace negotiations, 58% oppose Putin’s demands for neutrality and a majority (61%) reject all concessions. In short, there may be support for talks but concessions will be hard to come by.

The polling shows a clear difference between opinion in the east and south of Ukraine — where the war is being fought — and the rest of the country. In the south, 60% of respondents said they were ready for peace negotiations, which was in marked contrast to the war-torn east, where only 33% think that talks should begin. In terms of Ukraine’s future neutrality, southerners were 17 percentage points more likely than the rest of the country to agree to Putin’s demands.

On average, just 14% of Ukrainians disagreed with the statement that Putin would only enter negotiations on his own terms compared to 39% in the south. Even putting aside probable Russian attempts to control public opinion, Putin strikes a very different figure in the south than in the rest of the country.

This major poll of public sentiment comes just weeks after the US  promised a $2.3 billion military aid package. At Nato’s Washington summit last week, the alliance pledged a further $43 billion in aid and an “irreversible path” to membership. As of May 2024, Ukraine has received about $278 billion in aid, including $75 billion from the US.

There remains significant optimism about a Ukrainian victory on the battlefield despite Russia controlling around 18% of Ukrainian territory. According to the poll, some 66% still believe a Ukraine victory is possible, while 16% think it is impossible and 18% say they don’t know. Once again, opinion differs in the south, with 25% believing military victory is impossible.

Whenever peace talks come, the polling echoes what two years of fighting have proven: that Ukraine will concede almost nothing to Putin without serious resistance. But with Russian mortality rates of around 1,000 soldiers a day, peace talks may come sooner and Ukraine’s bartering power may be stronger than Putin would like to admit.


Max Mitchell is UnHerd’s Assistant Editor, Newsroom.

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Steve Jolly
Steve Jolly
5 months ago

I invite anyone who thinks high casualties will deter the Russians to examine the casualty rates in either of the World Wars. Russia leads WWII by a significant margin, and is nearly even with Germany in WWI, or ahead depending on whether and which kinds of civilian deaths are included in the count, this despite exiting the war a year earlier. This is historically how Russia fights wars. They only lost the first because the government collapsed, and that collapse wasn’t entirely because of the war. Similarly, I think it’s unlikely that Russia exits the war unless their demands are met or Putin is overthrown, and there’s no evidence of either. We’re in for a long slog folks.

Bret Larson
Bret Larson
5 months ago
Reply to  Steve Jolly

They negotiated pretty quickly when the Japanese destroyed their fleet in 1905.

jane baker
jane baker
5 months ago
Reply to  Bret Larson

Because they’re very sensible people. They know when to hold em and know when to.fold em

jane baker
jane baker
5 months ago
Reply to  Steve Jolly

Scorched Earth plus General Janvier + Fevrier is in the Russian Holy Soul. Victoire de Russie.

James S.
James S.
5 months ago
Reply to  Steve Jolly

And this article is silent on daily Ukrainian casualties. If they’re anything close to Russian killed/wounded, then the Ukrainian army is in a meat grinder that it can’t sustain. Wars of attrition have historically favored Russia, as you point out.

Matt B
Matt B
5 months ago
Reply to  Steve Jolly

Demographic outlook is utterly dire.

El Uro
El Uro
5 months ago

Milton Gibbon
Milton Gibbon
5 months ago

Only a minor point – the link for the $278billion aid (with $75billion coming from the USA) does not quote these figures. I had been led to believe that US aid outstripped all others by a wide margin. If the author’s figures are correct it would be interesting to see how much of the remaining $203billion came from European countries. Lots of US commentators saying they don’t want to be shouldering the burden when if these figures are true they are not.

Josef Švejk
Josef Švejk
5 months ago

I can understand those Ukrainians who want peace but Russia presently will look to any peace deal as part of a longer game. The Europeans need to become more assertive through NATO and if not, through smaller military alliances among those countries closer to the Russian front.

jane baker
jane baker
5 months ago
Reply to  Josef Švejk

I’m in Great Britain. If Mr Putin wants to invade the British Isles and take over our whole political and economic system he doesn’t need to laboriously work his way all through Europe. He could just put a detachment of troops on a North Sea Ferry,it’s not very far and they run every day. He could even have a battalion land on Bridlington beach in a leaky boat and no one in authority would notice. By the time they learned of it the Russkis would probably hold Thirsk. If Putin wanted to make a move on us,it’s just a hop and a skip across the sea. Ninth century Northmen could do it with no tech for God’s Sake.
As we are all engaged in a huge battle for GODS SAKE. With those Powers of the Air that St Paul referenced. Those of us who’ve read the book know how it ends.
Victory to Holy Russia and Death to God’s Enemies.

martin ordody
martin ordody
5 months ago
Reply to  Josef Švejk

Jaroslav Hašek muss be very sad to read this comments. Any idea what would it bring to sputum to attack NATO country?

Michael Cazaly
Michael Cazaly
5 months ago

Presumably the poll is of the Ukrainians still present in Ukraine.

Allan Meats
Allan Meats
5 months ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, July 4, that he takes US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments “seriously” and that he could bring about a quick end to the fighting in Ukraine. Trump had said during the debate with President Joe Biden last week that if elected, he would have the conflict “settled” before he took office in January 2025.
That would be good! Wouldn’t it?

Allan Meats
Allan Meats
5 months ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, July 4, that he takes US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments “seriously” and that he could bring about a quick end to the fighting in Ukraine. Trump had said during the debate with President Joe Biden last week that if elected, he would have the conflict “settled” before he took office in January 2025.
A move in the right direction surely?

John Tyler
John Tyler
5 months ago
Reply to  Allan Meats

That depends on whether he ends it by appeasement or a determined stand against a brutal regime.

martin ordody
martin ordody
5 months ago
Reply to  John Tyler

Get some inside into the history of the conflict, bombing of Donbas by the Ukrainian forces since 3014 with 10 000+ dead’s, etc.

Allan Meats
Allan Meats
5 months ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, July 4, that he takes US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments “seriously” and that he could bring about a quick end to the fighting in Ukraine. Trump had said during the debate with President Joe Biden last week that if elected, he would have the conflict “settled” before he took office in January 2025.
Russian mortality rates said to be 1,000 a day with Ukraine’s twice that – or more, a Trump win would be excellent for Ukrainian mothers

jane baker
jane baker
5 months ago

Well,they should speak up,demand Zelensky take a hike and reclaim their erstwhile democracy. USA wont like it.

John Tyler
John Tyler
5 months ago
Reply to  jane baker

Yes! Of course they should give in to violence and meekly submit to whatever Russia desires. Would you quietly submit to someone attempting to rape you?

mac mahmood
mac mahmood
5 months ago
Reply to  John Tyler

Is that not what is proposed in Palestine? Meekly submit to the terrorists wanting to rape you?
State of Terror
How terrorism created modern Israel
Thomas Suárez · 2016

John Tyler
John Tyler
5 months ago

I’m surprised even more don’t “want talks”, but that doesn’t mean they want to allow Russia to steal whatever it wants or have the means to enforce its policies on Ukraine. This is a bit like saying “x% want peace” when the important factor is not a near universal desire for peace, but whether you allow that to prevent yourself from being bullied and controlled by the minority of people who couldn’t give a damn about anybody else.

martin ordody
martin ordody
5 months ago

WHO believes polls in the Ukrainian democracy???

Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke
5 months ago

How many troops is Ukraine losing every day?