KYIV. Jan 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Over a half of polled Ukrainians support the cessation of the war in Donbas even under the condition of relinquishing the certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Oleksiy Borovskiy, the director of the Seetarget polling institution, said.

"Over a half of the population of Ukraine, almost 60% [59.2%] want peace at any cost," Borovskiy said at the presentation of the sociological survey 'Ukraine in the Focus of Sociology: Social Sentiments during the Electoral Campaign in 2019' at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Monday.

Even by means of relinquishing the territories outside Kyiv's control, he said.

According to Borovskiy, 24.1% of respondents chose the option of continuing the military conflict by any means, including the force, until Ukraine gains control over the separate areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to the poll, 73.1% of residents of the east of Ukraine stand in favor of the end of the war.

"This matter virtually divides Ukraine into two political camps or two large social groups," Borovskiy said.

In addition, despite the armed conflicts, the majority of Ukrainians hold a negative attitude towards the implementation of legal initiatives on the freedom of selling arms.

Therefore, 77.6% of respondents do not support free trade of arms under the condition of more severe responsibility for crimes using firearms and illegal circulation of weapons. And only 18.1% of those polled deem it acceptable.

Seetarget interviewed 2,010 respondents aged 18 and older between December 17 and 23, 2018, ahead of the presidential election in March.

The margin of error is not higher than 2.3%.