Ukraine should cede territory to Russia, nearly half of Germans say in poll

Almost half of Germans believe Ukraine should cede territory in the country’s east to reach a peace deal with Russia, according to a fresh poll by broadcaster RTL.
While 47% of Germans back the idea of Ukraine making territorial concessions to Russia, some 41% oppose it. The remaining 12% of respondents were unsure, according to the poll.

A vast majority – some 69% – of Germans do not believe that Kiev will be able to defeat Russia on the battlefield and drive its troops out of the country. Only 26% adhere to the idea that enough weaponry supplied to Kiev by the collective West would allow it to score a military victory over Russia. Meanwhile, 56% of Germans believe that supplying heavy weaponry to Kiev was the right thing to do, while some 40% are opposed.

Despite supporting the arms deliveries to Kiev, a vast majority of Germans (73%) do not believe that the country’s federal government has a well-thought-out strategy for dealing with both Kiev and Moscow in the long term, while only 15% believe a well-conceived plan is in place.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.

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