What do Putin's demands for Ukraine to leave Donbas and Finland to quit NATO mean? Radio NV poll

Radio NV conducted a poll to gauge public understanding of Kremlin's reported demands in relation to Ukraine and Finland. Respondents were presented with three options and asked to select which they believed Putin's statements implied.

The majority of the 1,180 participants, 830 (70.3%), interpreted Putin's demands as an unreasonable and unacceptable situation that should be disregarded. They viewed these as nonsensical proposals that should not be taken seriously.

Another 16.6% of respondents believed Putin's demands were an attempt to capitalize on the idea of "peace" by undermining Ukraine and the European Union. This group felt the Kremlin was attempting to exploit the situation for their own benefit.

A smaller fraction, 13.1%, thought Putin's demands were a deliberate tactic to disrupt ongoing negotiations and assign blame onto Ukraine and the European Union for any resulting failures.

Importantly, it is crucial to note that the poll results do not represent the views of the Ukrainian population as a whole. The German newspaper Bild reported on November 13 that Russia had presented a new set of demands during peace talks with Ukraine and the United States. These demands included the removal of Finland from NATO, the withdrawal of alliance bases from the Baltic states, full control over Donbas, and the demilitarization of Odesa and Mykolaiv.

The New York Times reported that Russia's demands echoed similar proposals made in 2021, calling for NATO to revert to its 1997 boundaries, which would entail the withdrawal of alliance forces from countries like Poland and the Baltic states.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, stated that Moscow was insisting on written assurances that NATO would not expand eastward. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggested that Russia was willing to allow European officials to participate in peace negotiations, but only to discuss a new security architecture, rather than a resolution to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.