An opinion poll by one of Ukrainian major pollsters, Rating Group, showed that 63% of Ukrainians want a revision of the Minsk accords, which were signed in 2014 with Russia with the stated aim of bringing a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the region. Meanwhile, only 11% of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine should fully comply with the deal. The same poll shows that support for NATO and EU membership in Ukraine is at a record high.
"One in five is unfamiliar with the content of the agreements, but the figure has fallen from 39% to 21% in the last four years," Rating Group notes.
Additionally, a majority of Ukrainians are in favor of Ukraine withdrawing from the Minsk agreements if Russia recognizes its proxy statelets as independent states. There are signs that such a scenario is on the table in the Kremlin: the poll was conducted days before Russia's Duma asked Putin to recognize the Luhansk and Donetsk "People's Republics."
"55% of respondents believe that Ukraine should withdraw from the Minsk agreements if Russia recognizes the so-called DNR and LNR as independent states. 24% are against it, while 21% are undecided on this issue. The majority of the population, regardless of their region of residence and their age, is in favor of withdrawing from the Minsk agreements under the mentioned conditions. A noticeable difference emerges only in the electoral perspective: the majority of the surveyed voters of the 'Opposition Platform – For Life' and 'Nashi' political parties are either against withdrawing from the Minsk agreements or are hesitant to respond," Rating notes.
Russian Duma urges Putin to recognize Donbas puppet statelets. Is the Minsk peace deal dead?
The Minsk accords also known as the Minsk agreements or simply the Minsk were signed in the Belarusian capital in September 2014 and February 2015 amid two major Russian offensive operations in eastern Ukraine. The signees were the representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and OSCE. Additionally, heads of Luhansk and Donetsk occupation administrations added their signatures without any titles.
Since the beginning, many Ukrainians saw the accords as a road to Ukraine's capitulation since those had paragraphs unacceptable to Ukraine. However, the deal turned out to be a double-edged sword with other paragraphs impossible to fulfill for Russia. This led to an impasse in the Minsk process lasting to this day, with Ukraine demanding that Russia withdraw all of its forces from the Donbas, and Russia demanding Ukraine's direct negotiations with Russia's puppet stateless of Luhansk and Donetsk "people's republics" ("LNR" and "DNR").
"The respondents from western and central Ukraine support the idea of Ukraine's integration into the Western structures more, while those from the South support it less. In the East, there are fewer supporters of NATO membership than there are opponents. As for the EU, there are equal parts of its opponents and supporters in the eastern regions. Over the last few years, there have been no significant differences in age demographic groups regarding their assessment of Ukraine's foreign policy direction. In the electoral perspective, the rejection of Ukraine's accession to Western structures prevails only among the voters of the “Opposition Platform – For Life” political party and Murayev's “Nashi” party," Rating notes.The Rating Group conducted the poll using the CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews) methodology on January 12-13 among 2,000 adult respondents from all Ukrainian regions except the Russian-annexed Crimea and the temporarily occupied territories of the Donbas. The sample error of the study doesn't exceed 2.2%.
Read more:
- Russian Duma urges Putin to recognize Donbas puppet statelets. Is the Minsk peace deal dead?
- How Ukraine can escape the trap of the Minsk Protocols and return to international law
- Ukraine-Russia peace talks are in a stalemate as Kyiv eyes ways to revise Minsk deal (2020)
- The curtain falls on a Russian-OSCE charade in Ukraine
- What would happen if Ukraine implements the controversial Steinmeier formula for Donbas?
- 58% Ukrainians support joining EU, 54% in favor of NATO, IRI Ukraine poll shows
- More than one Ukrainian in four speaks Polish, new survey finds
- Poll results: Slight improvement amid national pessimism in Ukraine, positive local outlook (2017)
- Three-fourths of Ukrainians oppose Minsk accords in current form, poll shows (2021)
- Russia issued ultimatum to Ukraine — Kuchma (2015)
