As many as 40.9% of Ukrainians believe that accession to NATO would be the best security guarantee for their country, while 35.9% see Ukraine's security in its non-aligned status, according to the results of a public opinion survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF) together with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

The poll results also show another 7.4% of respondents believe that a military union with Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) would serve Ukraine's security interests best of all. Another 15.6% of those polled could not answer that question.

By comparison, 46.1% of Ukrainians said in December 2018 that they would like their country to join NATO, another 24.1% of respondents backed Ukraine's non-aligned status, and 7.2% spoke in favor of a military union with Russia and other CIS countries.

The latest survey was conducted among 2,040 Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and above in 103 cities and villages across the country from August 8 to August 20, 2019.

The International Renaissance Foundation provided financial support for the survey. Some questions were included in it at the request of the Center of Policy and Law Reform.