MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. If a referendum on the withdrawal of Ukrainian armed forces from Donbass is held in Ukraine, Ukrainians may support the decision if it leads to a peaceful settlement, Alexey Antipovich, head of the Ukrainian sociological group Rating, reported.

"A referendum on this issue is probably the right decision. <...> I don't know how Ukrainians will respond to this. I understand that no one will want to change or retreat from the territory in isolation. However, as part of a broader peace plan, Ukraine may be willing to withdraw from Donbass," he said in an interview with the RBC-Ukraine news agency.

According to the pollster, there will be a large proportion of those who are against it and a large proportion of those who are in favor of it. "In general, we can expect Ukrainians to support a certain agreement," Antipovich noted.

He confirmed that people in the western regions of Ukraine are less willing to support territorial concessions than those in the eastern regions. "In the west, phrases such as 'we will fight to the end' are more common," the pollster said.

Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky said that the territorial issue could only be resolved by a referendum. However, at a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump, Zelensky changed his position, admitting that a peace agreement could be approved instead by a vote in the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament).