76% of Ukrainians reject Russian “peace terms” – poll

A new poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) shows 76% of Ukrainians categorically reject any “peace plan” on Russian terms, viewing Russia as the aggressor state. Meanwhile, 17% may agree to Russia’s demands. Ukrainians consider a joint peace plan by Europe and Ukraine the most acceptable.

In all regions, people categorically oppose Russia’s demands, with only a small portion willing to accept them to achieve peace.

The poll found 39% of respondents would accept a conditional plan proposed by the United States, up from 29% in May – though most respondents emphasize that this would be a tough decision for them. For the majority of Ukrainians – 49% – the plan is categorically unacceptable, down from 62% in May.

A joint plan by Europe and Ukraine is acceptable to 54%, up from 51% in May, and categorically unacceptable to 30%, down from 35% in May.

KIIS outlined three conditional plans, which researchers presented to respondents during the survey:

Russia’s conditional plan stipulates that Ukraine must significantly reduce its forces and limit its armaments and permanently renounce NATO membership. Russia would gain control of the cities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and the entire Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. Ukraine would officially recognize all occupied territories as part of Russia and renounce them forever. The U.S. and Europe would lift all sanctions against Russia, but Ukraine would pursue EU membership.

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Under the U.S. conditional plan, a group of European states – but not the United States – will provide Ukraine with security guarantees. Russia would retain control over the occupied territories. The U.S. would officially recognize Crimea as part of Russia. Ukraine would pursue EU membership, and the U.S. and Europe would lift all sanctions against Russia.

Under the conditional plan of Europe and Ukraine, Ukraine receives reliable security guarantees from Europe and the U.S. Russia would retain control over the occupied territories, but Ukraine and the world would not officially recognize this. Ukraine would pursue EU membership. After establishing stable peace, the U.S. would gradually soften its sanctions against Russia.

KIIS conducted the poll from July 23 to August 4, 2025, using telephone interviews in all regions of Ukraine under the Ukrainian government’s control. Researchers interviewed 1,022 respondents aged 18 and older living in government-controlled Ukraine.

Under normal circumstances, the statistical error for a sample of 1,022 respondents does not exceed 4.1% with a 95% confidence level and accounting for a design effect of 1.3. For the peace plans discussed in this report, researchers conducted an experiment, asking respondents about one of three randomly selected peace plans to avoid response-order bias. Each peace plan received evaluation from 324-351 respondents, yielding an error of no more than 7.2% with a 95% confidence level and accounting for a design effect of 1.3.

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On August 5, the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children issued a joint statement to Russia: immediately and unconditionally return the Ukrainian children whose names were officially handed over by Ukraine during bilateral talks in Istanbul on 2 June 2025. 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in an interview with Fox Business on August 7 that territorial issues will be a key element in ending the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine.

Rubio added that a ceasefire must be part of the peace process, as, in his words, “it is difficult to negotiate the details of a final peace agreement when you are shooting at each other.” Therefore, the Secretary of State is convinced that, ideally, it is necessary to “move to a short-term ceasefire and use that time for a final settlement of the conflict.”

Rubio also said that “the key elements of any end to the war will be territorial issues.”

“In any agreement, there must be concessions; the concessions must come from Russia and, of course, from Ukraine. It’s complicated… I think the conditions under which it (the war) should end are always the hard part,” he remarked.

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According to Rubio, the U.S. now has a better understanding of the conditions “under which Russia will be ready to end the war.”

“Now we have to compare that with what the Ukrainians and our European allies are willing to accept, but, of course, primarily the Ukrainians,” the Secretary of State added.

He emphasized that for the first time since the start of the Donald Trump administration, “we have concrete examples of what Russia might demand to end the war.”