Three-quarters of Ukrainians reject a "peace plan" that would require withdrawing forces from Donbas, limiting the Ukrainian army's size, and offering no concrete security guarantees, according to a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted between 26 November and 13 December.
"The Russian plan remains categorically unacceptable – 75% of Ukrainians consider it completely unacceptable (the same as in September 2025). Only 17% of Ukrainians are ready for the Russian version of peace (the same as before)," KIIS reported.
The institute presented respondents with two abbreviated versions of potential peace agreements without initially identifying their origins. One represented a conditional plan from Europe and Ukraine, the other a conditional Russian plan.
The European-Ukrainian plan outlined:
Ukraine would receive reliable security guarantees from Europe and the USA, including sustainable weapons and financial support, plus protection of Ukrainian airspace from Russian attacks. The current frontline would be frozen with Russia maintaining control over occupied territories, though Ukraine and the world would not officially recognize this. Ukraine would continue its path toward EU membership, and sanctions against Russia would remain until sustainable peace is established and threats of renewed aggression disappear.
The Russian plan specified:
The USA and Europe would lift all sanctions against Russia. Russian would gain official status. Ukraine would significantly reduce its army and limit armaments. Ukraine would permanently renounce NATO membership, with the West unable to supply weapons. Russia would determine Ukraine's security guarantees and serve as one of the guarantor countries. Ukraine would withdraw forces from parts of Donetsk region it currently controls, including Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and other cities. Ukraine would officially recognize Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of Russia and permanently renounce them. Russia would retain control over occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Meanwhile, 72% of Ukrainians—though mostly without enthusiasm, the sociologists note—are prepared to approve the European-Ukrainian plan. Only 14% categorically reject it.
The survey interviewed 547 respondents aged 18 and older via telephone using random mobile number sampling. Respondents lived in government-controlled territory of Ukraine. The sample excluded residents of temporarily uncontrolled territories, though some respondents were internally displaced persons who relocated from occupied areas, as well as citizens who left the country after February 24, 2022.
Under normal circumstances, the statistical margin of error for such a sample (with probability 0.95 and design effect 1.3) would not exceed 5.6% for indicators near 50%, 4.8% for indicators near 25%, 3.4% for indicators near 10%, and 2.5% for indicators near 5%.
The sociologists note that wartime conditions add some systematic deviation beyond the formal margin of error, but they believe the results maintain high representativeness and allow reliable analysis of public sentiment.
