57% of Ukrainians oppose the withdrawal of the AFU from the Donetsk region even in exchange for security guarantees - survey
Kyiv • UNN
According to a KIIS survey, 57% of Ukrainians oppose the withdrawal of troops from the Donetsk region in exchange for security guarantees. The majority do not believe in US support and expect the war to end no earlier than 2027.
The majority of Ukrainians categorically do not support the idea of withdrawing troops from the Donetsk region in exchange for security guarantees from the US and Europe. This is evidenced by the results of a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, reports UNN.
Details
The study was conducted on April 20-27, 2026, using telephone interviews among 1,005 respondents in government-controlled territory of Ukraine.
According to the results, 57% of respondents consider such a condition "absolutely unacceptable." At the same time, 36% are ready to agree to it, although most of them call such a decision difficult. Another 7% were undecided.
KIIS notes that overall public opinion on this issue remains stable.
In general, it can be seen that throughout the entire observation period, public opinion on this issue has not changed significantly, and a stable majority of Ukrainians critically evaluate such an initiative
Also, 60% of Ukrainians believe that Russia is the main obstacle to ending the war. 14% of respondents pointed to the US as the main factor in the breakdown of peace, 7% to Ukraine, and 5% to Europe.
At the same time, expectations for a quick end to the war remain low. Only 31% of respondents believe that hostilities could end by the end of 2026, while 48% predict an end no earlier than 2027.
Separately, a decrease in trust in international security guarantees is recorded. While at the beginning of the year 59% believed in European support in the event of a new attack, that figure is now 52%. Regarding the US, the situation is even more skeptical: 57% do not believe in sufficient support from Washington.
KIIS emphasizes that even among those ready to endure the war for a shorter time, a significant portion still rejects the idea of territorial concessions.
In such an atmosphere, it is futile to expect Ukrainians to approve a peace agreement where the stability of future peace would be based on security guarantees from the US