75% of Ukrainians reject Russian ‘peace plan’ requiring troop withdrawal from Donbas — poll

Three-quarters of Ukrainians are opposed to a plan, which, according to the version of U.S. President Donald Plan, is for peace and includes the withdrawal of troops from Donbas, limits on the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and a lack of specific security guarantees.

The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) released survey results from November 26 to December 13, 2025.

“The Russian plan remains categorically unacceptable – 75% of Ukrainians consider it completely unacceptable (the same number as in September 2025). Only 17% of Ukrainians are ready for the Russian version of peace (the same number as before),” sociologists reported.

72% of Ukrainians (KIIS noted that mostly without enthusiasm) are ready to approve a plan proposed by Europe and Ukraine. Only 14% categorically reject it.

KIIS noted that two shortened versions of a “peace plan” were prepared as part of the survey. One was a hypothetical plan from Europe and Ukraine, and the other was a hypothetical Russian plan. Respondents were randomly assigned one of the two versions, without being informed of its origin, whether it came from Europe, Ukraine, or Russia.

A provisional plan by Europe and Ukraine:

• Ukraine receives reliable security guarantees from Europe and the United States, including sustained supplies of weapons and financial support in sufficient amounts, as well as the closure of Ukraine’s airspace to Russian attacks.
• The current front line is frozen; Russia retains control over the occupied territories, but Ukraine and the international community do not officially recognize this.
• Ukraine moves towards accession to the EU.
• Sanctions against Russia remain in place until a sustainable peace is established and the threat of renewed Russian aggression disappears.

A provisional plan by Russia:

• The United States and Europe lift all sanctions against Russia.
• The Russian language is granted official status in Ukraine.
• Ukraine must significantly reduce its armed forces and limit its weaponry.
• Ukraine permanently renounces NATO membership, and the West may no longer supply weapons to Ukraine.
• Russia has the right to determine what security guarantees for Ukraine will look like and will be one of the guarantor states of Ukraine’s security.
• Ukraine withdraws its troops from parts of Donetsk Oblast currently under its control, including Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, and other cities. 
• Ukraine officially recognizes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk Oblasts as part of Russia and permanently relinquishes them.
• Russia retains control over the occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

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Meanwhile, most Ukrainians have said they are ready to endure the war for as long as needed, and a further one percent are prepared to endure for about another year.

“At the same time, the majority of Ukrainians (63%) continue to say that they are ready to endure the war as long as necessary (in September it was 62%). Another 1% said they were ready to endure for about a year. A total of 15% of respondents say a shorter period (in September, it was 21%, but at the same time, the number of those who could not answer the question increased from 13% to 21%),” the sociologists reported.

KIIS sociologists conducted the survey from November 26 to December 13, using telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. The survey targeted 547 respondents aged 18 and over, all of whom live in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. The sample did not include residents of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, although some respondents were internally displaced persons who had moved from occupied territories. Additionally, it did not include citizens who left Ukraine after February 24, 2022.

Under normal circumstances, the formal statistical margin of error for such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account a design effect of 1.3) does not exceed 5.6% for indicators close to 50%, 4.8% for indicators close to 25%, 3.4% for indicators close to 10%, and 2.5% for indicators close to 5%.

Under wartime conditions, in addition to the stated formal margin of error, a certain systematic bias is present. However, sociologists believe the results nevertheless retain a high level of representativeness and allow for a fairly reliable analysis of public sentiment.

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