MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. The Ukrainian authorities are lying to their own people, fueling hate for Russia at every turn, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comment for the Shot Telegram channel.
He stressed that in Ukraine, "the [propaganda] machine to fool the people" was operating "very effectively and on a large scale."
"People are being fooled and brainwashed and taught to hate all things Russian. Work is also underway to fuel nationalist sentiment in the bad sense of the word, promoting the spread of the plague that is Nazism," he said.
Peskov also commented on a recent Ukrainian opinion poll, which revealed that 44% of the country’s people believe it’s time to negotiate with Russia. According to the Kremlin spokesman, "these are interesting figures, which say a lot." He also noted that "at the end of the day, it seems that the trend is changing." Peskov expects that the number of Ukrainians who support the idea of talks with Russia will definitely grow.
The Razumkov Center’s survey, commissioned by the Zerkalo Nedeli (or The Mirror of the Week) media outlet, showed that respondents have different views depending on the region of the country where they live, although the average share of those supporting the idea of talks stands at 44%. The share is the highest in the country’s southern regions (60%). As many as 84% still view Moscow’s territorial claims as unacceptable, while 77% oppose the lifting of sanctions on Russia and another 58% are against introducing provisions about Ukraine’s non-nuclear and non-bloc status into the constitution.
The poll was conducted on June 20-28. According to Zerkalo Nedeli, the survey did not involve service members and reflects the opinions of those in the rear.