More than 40 percent of Ukrainians believe that negotiations with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), as well as with Russia, will contribute to resolving the crisis in the conflict-stricken Donbas Region, a survey by Ukraine's Sofia social research center showed on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) More than 40 percent of Ukrainians believe that negotiations with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), as well as with Russia, will contribute to resolving the crisis in the conflict-stricken Donbas Region, a survey by Ukraine's Sofia social research center showed on Thursday."It is necessary to reach a peaceful solution [to the Donbas conflict] based on a compromise and through direct negotiations with Russia's leadership, as well as with DPR and LPR representatives. This option was chosen by 40.9 percent of respondents," the center said, citing the results of the survey.
According to the poll, at least 36.1 percent of interviewees said they believed that it was necessary to achieve victory via diplomatic and military defense means, combining deterrence of the self-proclaimed republics and international Russia sanctions.
Only 9.7 percent of respondents advocated military actions as a way to resolve the crisis in eastern Ukraine, while 8.2 percent of Ukrainians called for freezing the conflict, without recognizing the republics officially.
The poll was conducted in all regions of Ukraine, except for Donbas, between February 26 and March 4. The center interviewed over 2,000 respondents aged over 18.
The conflict in Donbas started in 2014, when the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed republics in the region that refused to recognize the new government in Kiev, which came to power after what they considered to be a coup. In February 2015, the warring parties signed the Minsk peace accords to end the hostilities in the region, but the situation has remained tense, with both parties accusing each other of ceasefire violations.
