One third of Ukrainians want war in Donbass stopped through concessions – poll

(Interfax – March 14, 2015)

One third of Ukrainian citizens think the Ukrainian leadership must make all necessary concessions in order to stop the bloodshed in Donbass, and more than 20 percent said no concessions were possible, according to a poll conducted by the GfK Ukraine pollster.

Twenty-one percent of respondents, polled recently, said Ukraine could give special temporary status to the Donetsk and Lugansk republics under partial control from Kyiv, says a report released on Friday.

Twelve percent of those surveyed said that the Russian language could be given the status of second official language and that this norm could be documented in the constitution.

Eleven percent of those questioned said Ukraine could give up plans to join NATO and lay down its non-aligned status in the constitution.

But 21 percent of the respondents said the Ukrainian leadership must not make any concessions, but, instead, mobilize the population, secure aid from the West and free Donbas in a military operation.

The poll was conducted on February 2 to 15 and involved 1,000 citizens aged over 16 in all regions of Ukraine, except Crimea. It was also conducted in the Kiev-controlled territories of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. The margin of error was within 3.1 percent.