Unexpected result: why in Ukraine increases the percentage of peace with Russia
Since May 2023, the share of such Ukrainians has increased more than three times: from 10 to 32%, showed a recent study of the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). The number of not ready to abandon the losses of territories at any cost fell from 84 to 55%. Among the ready -to -territorial concessions, 73% want to close the borders between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, introduced visa and customs regimes.
Another 16% believe that countries have to establish friendly relationships: open borders and without visa. There were also 1% of those who believe that Russia and Ukraine can turn into one state. The desire for peace with the aggressor is supported by another trend: almost half of the respondents (46%) said that by solving the war, the Russians seek to destroy the Ukrainian nation. Another 16% believe that Russia wants to make a "puppet state" from Ukraine.
Only 5% believe that Moscow "conducts denacification and demilitarization" without encroachment on Ukraine's independence. Representatives of the authorities in early July 2024 rejected the possibility of surrendering Russia in order to complete the fighting. In early July, the head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine stated that Kiev is hearing any advice on achieving a just peace. "But we are not ready to compromise for the sake of very important things and values . . .
independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, sovereignty," he emphasized. In the face of a great war, which has been going on for the third year, too many factors influence the opinion of society. Obviously, after the results of the summer counter -offensive in 2023, the joy of victories began to fade. In September-October, the paradigm of military expectations was changed last year, ascertain KIIS CEO Volodymyr Paniotto.
In parallel with the change of military strategy, society has ceased to accept the idea of protracted confrontation. Despite the statements of the authorities about episodic victories, failures in eastern Ukraine and territorial losses cannot be hidden.
"Overlap of military and financial assistance to Ukraine by the US Congress Congress, the inability to fully use Western weapons against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the high probability of winning Republican Donald Trump in the presidential election - all this draws rainbow prospects. The sociologist emphasizes in the conversation with focus. In addition, at the end of 2023, the opposition political forces began to be active.
Trust in power began to fall, although President Volodymyr Zelenskyy keeps an unprecedented level of trust at 60%for Ukrainian leaders, Paniotto emphasizes. The results of the KIIS research show the fatigue of society from war. The main problem is the lack of a clear military strategy, the reactive response of the authorities to challenges and their simple decisions in terms of PR, not effective management.
All these factors increase the percentage of those who want to complete the war faster, and the director of the Center for Civil Society Research Center Vitaliy Kulik shares the opinion. "It does not supply us with weapons - everything, we are ready to speak from the Russian Federation. We sent help - forward, we will fight," - he described the inconsistency of the situation. The clarity of the goals could be remedy, even if the war lasted at least 20 years for the return to the 1991 borders.
Now, according to Kulik, there is a trend: on the one hand, high -ranking persons speak of a complete victory over Russia, and on the other - about the beginning of negotiations and restoration of gas transit. The Bloomberg has recently found that the European authorities were negotiating with Kiev to continue the supply of Russian gas through Ukraine after the end of the contract by the end of 2024.
The option of buying and installing gas from Azerbaijan into Russian pipelines that go to Europe is discussed. But there are also fears that pipelines will become military purposes or become unusable, then their restoration will be expensive. "The population has deprived the predictability and opportunities to make plans. The laws governing the lives of Ukrainians are constantly changing, from mobilization and ending with taxes.
Today, business builds work in one scheme, and tomorrow raises tax rates and owners think: to close, go to the front or run away from Ukraine ", - the expert notes. Future scenarios depend on the patience of the people and the ability to endure all the wanderings for the sake of complete uncertainty, sums up the Kulik.
We will remind, according to the British Time magazine, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is already calculating the development of events in the event of Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election. According to one of the high -ranking Ukrainian officials, almost all 2025 will be "very difficult". Meanwhile, Russian troops are active in the Orikhiv direction of Zaporizhzhya region. The invaders want to push parts of the Armed Forces from the village of Rabotine.