Context: On May 29, 2026, Vladimir Putin announced that the war was nearing its end. He claimed that Russian troops were advancing every day on all fronts. In a report covering the first three months of 2026, U.S. intelligence confirmed that Russian forces continued to have the upper hand on the battlefield. However, the report noted that Ukraine had retaken 400 square kilometers. In a May 2 publication, the Institute for the Study of War reported that the pace of the Russian offensive has slowed.
On May 27, 2026, Aliaksandr Pastalouski stated on Radio-Minsk that there was a growing desire among Ukrainians to end the war at any cost.
“The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology [reports] that the [number of] people in favor of withdrawing the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Donetsk Region is growing by 5 to 6 percent every month, simply so that peace would come. This is no longer about ‘independence’ or anything else. Just let them stop the fighting.”
Since January 2026, KIIS has regularly asked Ukrainians whether they would be willing to accept the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donetsk Region in exchange for security guarantees from the United States and Europe. The latest April results indicate that 36% of respondents would be willing to accept this option, while 57% consider it to be absolutely unacceptable. In other words, there are more opponents than supporters of the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The largest number of supporters of withdrawing troops in exchange for security guarantees are based in southern Ukraine. The fewest supporters are in western Ukraine and Kyiv.
The survey’s results from the previous four months also contradict Pastalouski’s claim of a 5-6% monthly growth. Ukrainians’ opinions have not changed significantly. If there is any trend, it is a three-percentage-point shift in favor of those opposed to withdrawing the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Donbas.
Source: KIIS
Before that, since May 2022, KIIS had asked Ukrainians a similar, albeit less specific, question regarding their willingness to relinquish certain territories in exchange for peace. The history of responses shows that from mid-2023 to the end of 2024, the number of supporters of such a compromise grew from survey to survey: from 10% to 38%. However, since then, there has been no further growth, and the proportion of supporters of this option has remained relatively unchanged.
Thus, when speaking on Radio Minsk, Aliaksandr Pastalouski attempted to create the impression that Ukraine is bound to surrender, claiming that an increasing number of Ukrainians are willing to cede the Donbas to Russia. However, only one-third of respondents agree with this option; the majority are against it. Furthermore, the share of supporters of territorial concessions has not grown for about a year and a half.