RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Half of Ukrainians back compromise to end war – poll
Half of Ukrainians now favor a compromise to end the conflict with Russia through peace negotiations involving international mediators, a recent survey by Ukrainian pollster Socis has suggested.
According to a report by Ukrainskaya Pravda on Monday, the latest survey, conducted in December 2024, reflects shifting public sentiment in Ukraine, with increasing support for a diplomatic solution after years of conflict and the depleting situation on the battlefield.
According to the poll, 50.6% of respondents support negotiations involving international leaders to secure guarantees for ending the conflict. This marks a significant increase from 36.1% in February 2024.
The percentage of Ukrainians who back continuing the fight until Ukraine regains its 1991 borders, has significantly dropped from 33.5% in February 2024 to 14.7% in December 2024.
The survey also indicated that support for suspending hostilities and freezing the conflict along the current front lines has more than doubled over the year, from 8.2% to 19.5%.
According to the Socis poll, the percentage of Ukrainians advocating the restoration of borders as of February 2022 has remained relatively stable, fluctuating between 8.6% and 13.2% throughout the year.
The Ukrainskaya Pravda report emphasized that “one of the greatest challenges in the negotiation process” will be securing the support of both the Ukrainian public and the military for the decisions of the country’s leadership.
The outlet also cited an unnamed “influential”member of Vladimir Zelensky’s team, who stated that one major priority is securing “some kind of agreement on guarantees with the US, which would be ratified by Congress.” Another key task, according to the official, is resisting Russian demands for Ukraine’s neutrality.
Zelensky stated earlier that at least 200,000 “European peacekeepers”would be needed to uphold a ceasefire.
Moscow has dismissed the idea of Western peacekeepers in Ukraine, which has come to the fore in recent weeks following US President Donald Trump’s pledge to pursue a swift resolution to the conflict. Since his inauguration last week, Trump has called on Moscow to strike a deal with Kiev or face new sanctions, but maintained that he is “not looking to hurt Russia.” Trump has reportedly given his new Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, 100 days to finalize a settlement. According to the Kremlin, however, it has so far received no specific proposals from Washington.
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine broke down in the spring of 2022, with both sides accusing each other of making unrealistic demands. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine must become a neutral country and renounce claims to new Russian regions for any peace talks to succeed.
Moscow has since repeatedly voiced readiness to resume talks, firmly rejecting the idea of a temporary freeze to the conflict, which it says would only help Ukraine to rearm.
Kiev must give up its ambitions to join NATO, demilitarize, denazify, and abandon plans to obtain nuclear weapons, Moscow has insisted.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine replaces commander of eastern front after Russia captures another town
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy replaced the commander of the eastern front, the most heated battlefield of the Ukraine war, after Russian forces captured another strategic town there.
Brigadier-General Andriy Hnatov was replaced as the battlefield commander in the east by Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, overall commander of ground forces, who will keep his previous duties. Hnatov was given a role overseeing training and communications.
In his nightly video address late on Sunday, Zelenskiy said the aim was to strengthen the command of troops in the Donetsk region. Donetsk, a battlefield since 2014 and one of four provinces Russia claims to have annexed since its 2022 full-scale invasion, has been the main focus of fighting for more than a year.
The Ukrainian military confirmed on Monday that it had withdrawn from the Donetsk region town of Velyka Novosilka, a day after Russia said it had captured it. Viktor Trehubov, a military spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern front, confirmed that Russian troops had entered the town but said fighting continued on the outskirts.
Russian forces have been slowly but steadily advancing in eastern Ukraine for more than a year in relentless ground combat that has caused massive military losses on both sides. Kyiv, for its part, has managed to capture and hold a pocket of territory inside Russia over the past six months.
The new eastern commander, Drapatyi, 42, is well respected in the army, where he is credited with stopping a Russian offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region last year.
Ukrainian forces halted Russia's initial assault on the capital Kyiv after Russia's invasion in 2022 and achieved several big successes recapturing territory during the first year of the war. But they have largely been on the defensive since the failure of a major counterattack in mid-2023.
Ukrainian analysts estimate Russia captured about 3,000 square km (1200 square miles) of territory last year.
With the war approaching its three-year mark in February, Ukraine is outmanned on the battlefield and its troops are exhausted.
The government tried to address the issue by lowering the mobilisation age to 25 from 27 and introducing tougher rules for those evading the call-up. But it has so far resisted lowering the mobilisation age further to boost manpower.
Trehubov, the eastern forces spokesperson, said that the logistics hub of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region remained the main Russian target. Around 7,000 people are believed to remain inside Pokrovsk, which had around 60,000 residents before the invasion.
"The Pokrovsk direction accounts for at least half of all combat clashes, there is a lot of fighting there. It is the most active direction," Trehubov told Ukrainian TV. "They are trying to bypass the city, cut the supply lines and drive our troops out of the city."
RT/Reuters
