Most of Ukrainian citizens (65.8%) spoke out against the exchange of Crimea for the termination of war Russia has been waging in Donbas, that's according to a nationwide survey by Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Oleksandr Razumkov Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies on August 16-22, 2018.
In particular, respondents were asked whether it was worth "swapping" Crimea for Donbas to end the war and secure peace in the area – that is to recognize the occupied Crimea Russian territory in exchange for the withdrawal of Russian forces from the occupied Donbas and the halt of Russia's support for the so-called "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR") and "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR").
As reported, 52.7% of Ukrainians answered negatively, stressing Crimea is a Ukrainian territory. Another 13.1% of respondents also said "no" because they say Russia will continue aggressive policy against Ukraine anyway. Some 10.8% of Ukrainians consider that it is necessary to agree on any proposals that will lead to peace, even the Crimea exchange. A mere 5.2% of respondents consider this is possible if Russia pays compensation for the property Ukraine lost in Crimea. At the same time, 0.3% of Ukrainians consider other options, while 17.9% of respondents have found it difficult to answer the question.
Moreover, Ukrainians were asked if they were ready to support the renewal of financial subsidies for Crimea from the national budget in case of its return to Ukraine.
Read alsoSome 42.3% of Ukrainians believe Russian-occupied Crimea to return to Ukraine – survey
Thus, 34.1% of Ukrainians believe they are not, because Crimea should independently settle its financial issues. At the same time, 24.6% of respondents answered "probably yes", 14.2% -- "probably no," 9.8% "definitely yes," while another 17.3% have found it difficult to answer the question.
The survey was conducted across Ukraine excluding Crimea and the occupied areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. A total of 2,019 respondents aged 18 and older were interviewed. The margin of error does not exceed 2.3%.
As UNIAN reported, less than half of Ukrainians (42.3%) believe that Crimea will return to Ukraine.
