Ukrainians: 73 per cent in favour of “immediate peace negotiations”
by Multipolar,* Germany
(14 February 2025) Representative survey: demand for peace has majority support in all parts of Ukraine / 89 per cent of Ukrainians oppose lowering the age of conscription / German government supplies additional weapons
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Almost three quarters of the Ukrainian population are calling for immediate negotiations to end the war with Russia. This is the result of a recent representative survey conducted by the Ukrainian organisation “Advanced Legal Initiatives” (PPI).1 Some 73.4 per cent of respondents opted for the answer “immediate peace negotiations for a compromise solution”, while the remaining 26.6 per cent of respondents opted for the other answer “continuation of the war until the 1991 state borders are reached”. Broken down by regions, support for peace negotiations increases from west to east – but achieves a majority in all parts of Ukraine. At 53.6 per cent, approval was lowest in the west of the country, while in central Ukraine it was 69.4 per cent, in the capital Kiev 72.8 per cent and in the southern and eastern parts of the country 91.3 per cent.
The survey was conducted from 19 to 24 December 2024 among almost 5,100 adult Ukrainians.2 Half of the respondents were reportedly interviewed in person, the other half by telephone. According to the organisation responsible, PPI, the survey is representative. The figures confirm the results of a representative survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in February 2024.3 Even then, 72 per cent of Ukrainians were in favour of peace negotiations.
When asked what kind of peace would end the war, most respondents (33.4 per cent) said peace in return for Western security guarantees. Some 27.7 per cent believe in a “peace on all terms”, which could be interpreted as a euphemism for surrender. Some 19.9 per cent of respondents suspect that peace will come in return for a declared Ukrainian non-accession to NATO, and 10 per cent believe that Ukraine will achieve peace in exchange for territory. Only 8.8 per cent of those surveyed believe that peace will come through a “complete victory” by Ukraine.
The survey also asked about support for possible presidential candidates: if elections were held now, 16.1 per cent of those surveyed said they would vote for the incumbent Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Some 24.3 per cent would prefer the former army chief Valery Salushny and 12.6 per cent were in favour of electing the former head of government Yulia Tymoshenko. Former President Petro Poroshenko would receive 8.9 per cent and the Mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, 5 per cent.
Another question in the current survey was about the possible lowering of the age at which young Ukrainian men can be conscripted into military service from 25 to 18. The reduction is rejected by 89 per cent of Ukrainians. Most recently, US politicians such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken,4 National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Mike Waltz, security advisor-designate to President-elect Donald Trump, publicly stated in interviews5 that Ukraine could significantly increase the number of its soldiers by lowering the draft age to 18. According to the radio station “RBC Ukraina”, Ukrainian officials have since confirmed that “US partners” are trying to “convince” them to lower the draft age. However,6 President Zelensky rejects this as long as there are no additional arms deliveries.
At the last meeting of the “Ukraine Contact Group” at the US Air Force base Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate on 9 January, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced a further “security package” worth 500 million dollars for Ukraine.7 It will be the last package of the administration under President Joe Biden. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) announced the delivery of missiles for the “Iris-T” air defence system. These had actually been ordered for the German army but would now be forwarded directly to Kiev. “Ukraine can rely on Germany,” said Pistorius.8 On 13 January, he handed over newly produced German remote controlled Howitzers to the Ukrainian army.9 According to the ZDF, second public-service broadcaster in Germany, the US has so far supplied military goods worth almost 63 billion euros to Ukraine,10 Germany is said to have provided weapons systems worth 28 billion, and the UK is said to have provided “military aid” worth around nine billion.
| * Multipolar is edited by Stefan Korinth and Paul Schreyer. Multipolar reports can be freely obtained from other portals. The condition for reprinting is that the source is named, and the original link is embedded. Textual additions or other changes to the content of the original report must be indicated to the readership by means of a separate note. |
Source: https://multipolar-magazin.de/meldungen/0155, 14 January 2025
(Translation “Swiss Standpoint”)
1 https://ppi.international/statistic/socziologichne-opytuvannya-19-24-grudnya/
2 https://ppi.international/24-12-24.pdf
3 https://multipolar-magazin.de/meldungen/0011
5 https://english.nv.ua/nation/ukraine-needs-to-expand-mobilization-jake-sullivan-says-50481343.html
6 https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/ukraine-will-have-to-decide-biden-s-team-1736799579.html
9 https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/gesellschaft/pistorius-radhaubitze-100.html
10 https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/ausland/ramstein-ukraine-kontaktgruppe-faq-100.html