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Nearly half of Russian citizens support Russian President Vladimir Putin moving toward a peaceful solution to end the war in Ukraine, according to a recent survey, outnumbering the respondents who indicated that they want Moscow's "military operation" to continue.
According to a telephone survey conducted by the pollster group Russian Field, which interviewed 1,611 Russian citizens from October 21 to October 29, 48 percent of respondents indicated that they believe their country needs to move on to peace negotiations with Ukraine. In the same poll, 39 percent said they were in favor of Russia continuing its military operation.
Male respondents and those over age 45 who participated in the survey were much more likely to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russian Field found, while women and younger respondents were more likely to favor negotiations. The results also showed the largest amount of support for a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine since the group began public opinion polls in February 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
An overwhelming number of respondents—74 percent—also indicated that they would support Putin if he signed a peace agreement "tomorrow," compared to just 18 percent who said they would not support a stop to the war. According to Russian Field's findings, public support for a swift peaceful solution is almost at its highest since the start of the war—75 percent of respondents said they supported an end to the war "tomorrow" after Putin began a partial military mobilization in September 2022.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in October that Moscow was finally ready to discuss a "post-conflict settlement" of the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy, however, has repeatedly vowed that Kyiv will not make any concessions to Russia regarding occupied territory in Ukraine in order to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Russian Field's survey arrives a few weeks after a poll published by Russia's Levada Center found that 70 percent of Russians would support Putin if he decided to end the conflict that week. However, in a scenario where ending the war would include Russia returning the Ukrainian territories it currently occupies and has annexed, only 34 percent of respondents said they still support swift negotiations.
The polling also comes as Putin is anticipated to launch his bid for a fifth term in the coming weeks ahead of Russia's presidential election in March. The Kremlin leader recently enacted changes to the country's election laws, including amendments that restrict independent media coverage of the coming election and stringent rules on what platforms candidates can use to campaign.
Support for Putin's invasion of Ukraine reached an all-time low in polls from September, according to a survey conducted by the Levada Center, with just 38 percent of respondents saying they support Russia's actions in Ukraine.
Newsweek contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment via email on Wednesday.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more