Sir, – Dr Ray Bassett (“Ukraine – time for negotiations to end war”, Letters, July 18th) makes claims that recent public opinion polling in Ukraine shows a majority in favour of making peace with Putin’s Russia. However, studies, for example by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a recent Gallup poll, show the reverse, that most Ukrainians still think their country is capable of continuing its resistance to the illegal, brutal invasion by Russia, and that there is overwhelming support for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Dr Bassett argues that a “negotiated” peace, probably necessitating the ceding of all territory conquered by Russia (Vladimir Putin has stated repeatedly that there can be no peace deal otherwise), is urgent and that Ukraine has no hope of winning a continued war without direct intervention by Nato troops on the ground. He ignores the fact that military aid by Nato and the West has been insufficient to give Ukraine a reasonable chance of success.
Ukrainians have good reason to fear any deal where Russia can hang onto territory seized. The Minsk Protocol, forced on Ukraine by Russia after it had invaded the Donbas in 2014, was, despite being overseen by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and mediated by the French and German governments, quickly broken by Russia which continued its aggressive incursions, breaking a second agreement, Minsk II, and ultimately culminating in full-scale invasion. How could Ukraine be assured that any further peace agreement would not be similarly broken given Russia’s appalling record in this regard? – Yours, etc,
MALCOLM FITZELL,
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Dublin 18.
Sir, – A survey carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology on behalf of the National Democratic Institute shows that in November 2023 42 per cent of respondents agreed that Ukraine should engage in peace negotiations with Russia but 53 per cent said that Ukraine should not negotiate.
The National Survey of Ukraine carried out by polling Ukrainians in Ukraine by the International Republican Institute, published on its website on April 4th, 2024, doesn’t ask about favouring peace negotiations. However, it states that 96 per cent of respondents approve or strongly approve of the activities of the armed forces of Ukraine and 76 per cent have donated money to the armed forces during the last three months. More recently, a study by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace notes that only 26 per cent of Ukrainians preferred negotiations with Russia rather than continuing to fight. That report suggests that Ukrainians would only favour negotiation from a position of strength, when Ukraine could demand full Russian withdrawal from Ukrainian territory and other conditions that it calls non-starters for the Kremlin. A resounding 96 per cent supported the scenario of a full Russian withdrawal to end the war.
I believe that these surveys underscore the continuing strong desire of Ukrainians to keep fighting for their country. In that light, which is more immoral – the “present Irish stance” of full support of Ukraine or Dr Bassett’s injunction to “put our own country’s interests first”? – Yours, etc,
PHILIP W BECK,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.