Negotiations and protection of whistleblowers: conflicting feelings in Ukraine

In Ukraine, more and more people have started talking about peace negotiations with Russia. While earlier President Volodymyr Zelensky categorically denied the possibility of any agreements with the current Russian leadership and even issued a decree ruling out negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the situation is now changing. Zelensky now believes that representatives of Russia should be present at another "peace summit," which Ukraine plans to hold in November. He stated this in Kyiv at a press conference on July 15 of this year.

44 percent of those surveyed in Ukraine say it's time for negotiations.

At the same time, 44 percent of Ukrainians in the hinterlands of the country believe it is time to start official negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow. 35 percent believe there are no grounds for peace talks to begin, and 21 percent are undecided, according to the survey conducted by the Razumkov Center on behalf of the ZN.UA online edition from June 20 to 28, 2024.

However, according to the survey, Ukrainians are categorically opposed to Ukraine officially agreeing to the conditions for ending the war with Russia, which Putin recently announced. Nearly 83 percent of residents in Ukrainian territories under government control do not support the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. About 84 percent of respondents oppose officially surrendering these regions to Russia. Additionally, 77 percent of survey participants do not support lifting all Western sanctions on Russia. Regarding the issue of Ukraine's neutral, non-nuclear status, the position of the population in surveyed territories is not so straightforward. Fifty-eight percent of respondents are against it, while 22 percent are in favor.

 

When asked by sociologists which conditions Ukrainian citizens consider a minimum requirement for reaching a peace agreement with Russia, more than 51 percent of Ukrainians responded that it is the liberation of Ukraine from Russian troops within the borders of 1991. While the majority of Ukrainians desire a return to the 1991 borders, nearly every second Ukrainian (46 percent) also believes that compromise during wartime is not shameful. Only 29 percent hold the opposite view, with another 25 percent undecided.

 

"Does the government disorient Ukrainian society?

"This shows the frustration of the population. People lack understanding of the prospects in Ukraine and Ukraine itself in conditions of war. Society signals this with such paradoxical responses. There is a large percentage of those willing to engage in peace negotiations, and this is because the current model of mobilization and national cohesion has been exhausted in the conditions of a short war. We have transitioned to a long war, yet neither the authorities nor the elites have offered any vision of how Ukraine should live in conditions of permanent war or the threat of war," says Oleg Sakajan, a political scientist and co-founder of the National Platform for Stability and Cohesion.

According to his opinion, everything that has been postponed until "after the war" — combating corruption, cover-ups, inefficiency of state regulatory systems — has begun to trouble Ukrainians again, as people have realized that the war is long. "Situations such as mobilization, abuse of power, energy and economic issues, fortifications, and defense. All of these are currently becoming very relevant for society because the war continues and these problems are not being solved. At the same time, society desires victory, but there is a vacuum of vision on how to achieve it," Sakajan emphasizes.

Ihor Reiterovič, an associate professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, notes that in recent months the Ukrainian president has practically not mentioned the 1991 borders as a precondition for peace with Russia, nor has he mentioned new ones. According to experts, this disorients Ukrainian society.

 

"This leads to the situation where, on one hand, the majority wants to restore everything. On the other hand, half of them say that evasion is not a problem. The answers are ambivalent. So, we have to work with that, we have to take it into account and think about a solution that will unite and organize Ukrainian society," Reiterovič told DW.

 

Vision of life in wartime

To garner support from Ukrainians for its initiatives, the government should initiate an open dialogue with society about the future and develop a vision on how to continue living in wartime conditions, involving as many people as possible in the decision-making process, political scientists believe.

 

At the same time, sociologists note that ambivalent responses to complex issues are a normal occurrence for a society facing complete uncertainty. "Public sentiments must always be monitored and the dynamics must be carefully considered to prepare for challenges," says Mykhailo Mishchenko, Deputy Director of the Sociological Service at the Razumkov Center.

Experts interviewed by DW agree that such sociological measurements are now necessary for Ukrainian authorities to clearly formulate possible options for future developments, preparing for another "peace summit" and having strong arguments for peace plan negotiations.