Ukrainians favour peace talks with Russia, but not on Putin's terms

Kyiv [Ukraine], July 16: Only around a third of Ukrainians are strongly opposed to peace talks with the Kremlin, a new survey suggested on Monday, more than two years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
An estimated 43 percent of Ukrainians are in favour of negotiations with Russia, with 35 percent opposed and 21 percent undecided, according to a representative survey conducted by the renowned Razumkov Centre research institute on behalf of news site Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.
Residents of central and southern Ukrainian regions were particularly in favour of starting official negotiations with Moscow, at 49 percent and 60 percent respectively.
Opinion in the east of the country, where heavy fighting continues, is evenly divided between those in favour of negotiations, those against them, and those undecided.
However, the overwhelming majority of respondents rejected the conditions for peace put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Moscow is demanding that Ukraine cede almost 20 percent of its territory, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014, and the eastern regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson, which Russia only partially controls.
In addition, Putin says Kiev must renounce its aspiration to join the NATO military alliance and the European Union.
More than 80 percent of Ukrainians surveyed are against making territorial concessions, while 76 percent reject the lifting of sanctions against Russia and just under 60 percent oppose a neutral status for Ukraine.
The survey was conducted by the Kiev-based Razumkov Centre at the end of June, with 2,027 Ukrainians over the age of 18 polled in all parts of the country still controlled by Ukraine.
Source: Qatar Tribune