KYIV. Aug 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Some 66.9% of Ukrainians believe that in order to restore peace in Ukraine, return Donbas and establish good-neighborly relations with the Russian Federation, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky must hold a personal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the results of the monitoring survey of the population of Ukraine "Dynamics of socio-political attitudes and assessments of the population of Ukraine" by the Social Monitoring Center.

According to the survey presented at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday, 33.2% of respondents gave the answer "definitely yes," 33.7% – "rather, yes," 14.6% – "rather, not," and 15.1% – "definitely not."

When asked whether President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky should hold a personal meeting with the leaders of the self-proclaimed so-called Donetsk and Luhansk "republics," 51.1% answered that yes (25.6% – "definitely yes," 25.5% – "rather, yes"), 39.3% of respondents do not agree with this (14.7% – "rather, not," 24.6% – "definitely not"). Some 9.6% found it difficult to answer.

Some 52.8% believe that it is in the interests of Ukraine to fulfill the Minsk Agreements on the settlement of the conflict in Donbas, and 38.1% are in favor of abandoning them. Some 9.1% found it difficult to answer.

Some 33.4% of respondents indicated that the Ukrainian authorities did the right thing by abandoning the option of unilateral release of the detained citizens of Ukraine, when the leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics offered to release four detained Ukrainian women and hand them over on the contact line to a representative of the Opposition Platform - For Life (14.9% – "definitely correct," 18.5% – "rather, correct"). Some 53.1% answered that it was wrong (28% – "rather, wrong," 25.1% – "definitely wrong"). Some 13.5% did not answer the question.

Some 31.5% support the granting of a special status to the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which provides for autonomy within Ukraine. Some 25.8% support the official recognition that these territories cannot be returned to Ukraine in the coming years, and their isolation from Ukraine. Some 21.7% support the continuation of hostilities aimed at resuming full control of Ukraine over these territories by military means. Some 21% of respondents found it difficult to answer.

Some 44.9% said they would support the decision to grant autonomy within Ukraine to the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions to end hostilities and peacefully resolve the conflict in Donbas. Some 37.5% indicated that they would not support it. Some 17.6% did not answer this question.

The survey was conducted from August 2 to August 11, 2021. Some 3,012 respondents took part in it. The method of collecting information is a personal interview at the place of residence of the respondent, the standard deviation is from 1.1% to 1.9%.