Most Americans are opposed to Russia receiving Ukrainian territory at the end of the war, according to a new poll that comes as President Trump has suggested “land swaps” could be part of a peace deal.
When asked in The Economist/YouGov poll about “how much of Ukraine’s territory” they want Russia to have at the end of the war, 68 percent of respondents said “none of it.”
Twenty-one percent of survey participants said they were “not sure” how much territory Russia should get, 5 percent said they wanted Russia to have “some of” Ukraine’s territory, 2 percent said they wanted Russia to get “half of” Ukrainian territory and 1 percent said they wanted Russia to have “most of it.”
President Trump separately met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin on U.S. soil within the past week. Putin reportedly wants most of the eastern Donbas region as part of a deal, while Ukraine has rejected ceding territory.
Trump is now pushing for Zelensky and Putin to meet face-to-face, as they remain far apart on the terms for peace. Ukraine has demanded a ceasefire before any formal negotiations, a request that Trump previously backed but dropped after meeting Putin in Alaska last week.
Russia has sent signals this week that it’s in no hurry to have Putin meet with Zelensky.
Moscow also said Wednesday that talks between NATO allies and Ukraine about postwar security guarantees were a “road to nowhere” unless Moscow takes part in the discussions.
“We cannot agree with the fact that it is now proposed to resolve collective security issues without the Russian Federation. This will not work,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference.
The Economist/YouGov poll took place from Aug. 15 to 18, with 1,568 respondents and and a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
