On one side, the population's strong resilience – on the other, the growing number of voices calling for territorial concessions to achieve peace. The latest opinion polls published between December 30, 2024, and January 3, by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) speak volumes about the uncertainty in which the Ukrainian population finds itself, more than 1,000 days after the start of the Russian invasion.

The election of Donald Trump in the US presidential contest in November 2024 has played a major role in this state of mind. Ukrainians are hoping that the president-elect, who will be inaugurated on January 20, will make strong and swift decisions to put an end to the war while fearing a drop in US military and financial aid. On the front, Kyiv's army, short of men and weapons, is constantly retreating in the face of Russian forces gaining territory in the east at the price of heavy losses.

In the run-up to Trump's inauguration, the language from political representatives changed significantly. Hitherto taboo, the prospect of territorial concessions to Russia to end the conflict gradually asserted itself. In his New Year's address, Volodymyr Zelensky called for "a just peace" in 2025, without mentioning the liberation of territories occupied by the Kremlin's army as a condition.

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