The election to the White House of Donald Trump, who said he would end the war “in 24 hours” once in power, has made kyiv fear a drop in American support.
A building damaged by a strike in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, November 11, 2024. (STATE EMERGENSY SERVICE OF UKRAI / HANDOUT)
Despite Russian advances, human losses and weariness, a majority of Ukrainians remain opposed to ceding territories to Russia with a view to obtaining peace, according to a poll published Tuesday, November 12 by a specialized institute in kyiv .
The kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted a telephone survey of 2,004 people living in territory under kyiv control between September 20 and October 3, i.e. before Donald Trump's victory in the American presidential election which revived the debate on possible peace talks with Moscow.
According to the results, “at the beginning of October 2024, despite difficult circumstances,
the majority of Ukrainians – 58% – oppose any territorial concession.”
This figure is up three percentage points compared to May, the date of the previous survey carried out, but down significantly compared to the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 (82% opposed in May 2022).
Concessions to “preserve the independence” of Ukraine?
The authors of the survey add that “between May and early October 2024, the situation has not changed: currently,
32% of those questioned are ready”, on the contrary
to make territorial concessions to “preserve the independence” of Ukraine. If this figure has tripled since May 2022 (10% at the time), it still remains in the minority in public opinion, according to this survey.
The recent election to the White House of Donald Trump, who said he would end the war “in 24 hours” once in power, has made kyiv fear a drop in American support to push back
Russian forces which still occupy nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory.
The former American president has in the past made laudatory remarks towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The debate on possible peace negotiations with Moscow, although regularly brushed aside by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has intensified in recent weeks against a backdrop of rapid Russian advances in the Donbass (east) and Western prevarications on the military aid to be provided to kyiv.
In this uncertain context, the Ukrainian army carried out in August
a major attack on the Russian cross-border region of Kursk
seizing several hundred square kilometers, an argument that kyiv had said it wanted to use, ultimately, to put pressure on Moscow during possible discussions.
