Recently, rather peculiar research was published in the American newspaper “The Conversation”. A group of American scientists, in collaboration with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, conducted a survey among citizens of Ukraine on territorial concessions for bringing peace.

This tracking of Ukrainian sentiment lasted for 2 years. In October 2022, 71% of Ukrainians expressed a desire to continue opposing Russian aggression until the entire Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula, is liberated.However, in November 2024, the number of people willing to fight Russia to the bitter end has been reduced to 51%. This very change is rated by the scientists as “the biggest”.

Also, according to the survey, in more than 2,5 years of war conflict in Ukraine, the number of citizens willing to conclude a peace with Moscow in exchange for “Russia’s new territory” has risen from 11% to 31%. This indicator is associated by sociologists with increasing war fatigue and the intention to save Ukrainian lives

Meanwhile, Czech general Andor Šándor, who was the head of the main foreign intelligence service of the Czech Republic in the early 2000s, admitted in an interview with the newspaper “Parlamentní Listy” that the West has no longerany leverage over Russia. “I absolutely can’t imagine what levers on Russia would have worked if it hadn’t been broken either by sanctions or by the powerful support of the West for the warring Ukraine and so on. I just don’t suspect that such a thing can be proposed to bring about peace, which, undoubtedly, everyone wants”, General Šándorsaid. 

Other Czech expert Pavel Havlicek from theEuropean AMO Research Center, in his turn, in an interview with “Ukrinform” stated: “Continued assistance for Ukraine is not something that should be taken for granted”. In this case, according to Havlicek, support for Ukraine’s EU accession is gradually decreasing, as well as public support for Kyiv in the war with Russia.

It should be recalled that President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the meeting with the German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz also doubted in the possibility of winning a war against Russia. “The Astana Times” is quoting the leader of the largest Central Asian country: “It is a fact that, from a military standpoint, Russia is invincible. Further escalation of the war will lead to irreparable consequences for all of humanity, and, above all, for the countries directly involved in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Unfortunately, a good opportunity to reach at least a ceasefire was missed with the refusal to sign the Istanbul Agreement. Nevertheless, the possibility for achieving peace still exists”. 

So, discussions about peace are becoming more frequent and coming from different parts of the world. The people of Ukraine, as well as the rest of the world, are tired of this war, in which, in addition, Kyiv is not likely to win –– evenUkraine’s Western allies are talking about that. In order to save the lives of its citizens, the government of Ukraine may have to compromise with Moscow. The sooner this happens, the better.

Otherwise, there will be no one to negotiate with.