Some 50.3% of the population of Ukraine are in favor of joining NATO, according to the results of a sociological study regarding changes in public attitudes towards joining NATO.

"More than half of the population, 50.3%, to be precise, believes that in order to ensure the appropriate level of protection for the state, it is necessary to join NATO," Center for Applied Research Chairman Andriy Karakuts at a presentation of survey results in Kyiv on Monday.

Some 18% of respondents support the idea of non-aligned status of Ukraine, support the military alliance of Ukraine with Russia and other CIS countries – 9% and other options, including the creation of a military alliance with the United States - 23%.

"Residents of the western region (69%) are most active in joining NATO, in the central region, NATO support is 49%, in northern regions - 55%, in eastern regions - 43%, in southern regions - 29%, in Donbas - also 29%," said Karakuts, adding that in the regions the least support for joining NATO was recorded in the Luhansk region - about 16%, and the highest - in the Lviv region - almost 80%.

According to the study, the largest number of Ukrainians support the idea of joining NATO, because Ukraine can get security guarantees (77%). Among opponents of joining NATO, the most popular reason is the negative impact of implementing such a course on relations with Russia (46%).

The study was conducted from November to December 2019. Some 2,035 people took part throughout Ukraine, except in Russia-occupied areas of Crimea and Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The margin of error of the survey with a probability of 0.95 does not exceed 2.2%.