The overwhelming majority (69%) of Ukrainians believe that Crimea should remain part of Ukraine and they are not ready to exchange it for Donbas, according to a nationwide poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation.

"Starting from 2016, Ukrainians have consistently expressed an opinion that Crimea should remain part of Ukraine and the share of citizens who say so is 69% of the population of Ukraine. Over 80% of respondents in the country's western and central regions share the conviction that Crimea belongs to Ukraine, in the south - 56%, and in the east - 45%," the foundation's analyst, Serhiy Shapovalov, said at a round table meeting at Ukrinform, while presenting the results of the survey.

At the same time, an absolute minority in the south and the east supports Crimea's belonging to Russia - 3% and 10% respectively. Instead, a certain part of the population of these regions believes that Crimea should be independent (24% in the south and 18% in the east).

"Despite the great complex of problems that Ukraine has today, most Ukrainians (66%) consider it unacceptable to accept the proposal to 'swap' Crimea for Donbas, that is, to recognize the annexed Crimea as Russian 'in exchange' for Russia's withdrawal from the occupied territories of the Donbas (such 'exchange' is supported by 16%)," Shapovalov said.

A nationwide population survey in Ukraine was conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation together with the Razumkov Center Sociological Service from August 16 to August 22, 2018 in all regions of Ukraine, except for Crimea and the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Some 2,019 respondents aged 18 years and over were interviewed. The poll's margin of error does not exceed 2.3%.

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