Number of Donbas residents ready for any compromises for sake of peace decreases

The number of citizens willing to accept any compromises for the sake of peace in Donbas has generally decreased, most significantly in Donetsk region.

This is evidenced by results of the poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, which were presented by political analyst Maria Zolkina during the online news conference broadcast by Ukrinform.

"Since the end of 2018 [a preliminary study was conducted in November 2018], a sort of radicalization has occurred in Donetsk region, and critical assessments of these compromises have been made much more often than before," Zolkina said.

In particular, according to the poll, 14% of Donetsk region residents are ready to make any compromises for the sake of peace (compared to 45% more than a year ago). In Luhansk region, this number decreased to 34% against 47% in 2018.

In addition, 50% of the residents of Donetsk region and 49% of the residents of Luhansk declared their readiness for partial compromises. Over a year ago, these figures were 35% and 34% respectively.

The opinion that the peace in Donbas can be restored only by force when one of the parties wins is now shared by 27% of the residents of Donetsk region (against 14% more than a year ago) and 7% of the residents of Luhansk region, (almost the same number as in 2018 – 6%).

Commenting on these data, the political expert stated that Luhansk region was quite loyal to the idea of wide compromises with the Russian Federation.

The regional public opinion poll was conducted in Donetsk and Luhansk regions by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation together with the Center for Political Sociology on February 18-March 2, 2020.

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