# Europe’s Negotiation Push Collides With Ukrainian Resolve to ‘Endure War as Long as Needed’

*Wednesday, October 28, 2026 at 10:07 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-10-28T10:07:20.749Z (3h ago)
**Category**: geopolitics | **Region**: Eastern Europe
**Importance**: 9/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/21777.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: A new KIIS survey finds nearly two-thirds of Ukrainians ready to keep fighting with no time limit, even as Europe prepares to sit at the same table with Russia and the US in November. That gap between battlefield resolve and diplomatic timelines will shape what any negotiation can realistically deliver — and how far Kyiv can bend under allied pressure.

For Ukraine’s allies pressing for a negotiated end to the war, the main constraint may not sit in the Kremlin but in Ukrainian society itself. A new national poll shows a clear majority of Ukrainians saying they are prepared to endure the war for as long as it takes, just as European institutions prepare to join Russia–Ukraine talks in November.

The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) survey, released in recent days, found 63% of Ukrainians willing to continue the war "for as long as necessary." Another 5% would tolerate one more year of fighting, while 21% say several months to six months. Eleven percent remain undecided. According to KIIS, the numbers show no significant movement compared with a similar poll conducted between 8–16 October, despite stepped-up Russian attacks, pressure on Ukrainian cities and visible diplomatic maneuvering by foreign capitals.

At the same time, the European Commission and the European Council are preparing a joint senior-level delegation for the next round of Russia–Ukraine negotiations, expected in November. According to European officials, the delegation is due to be led by Bjoern Seibert, chief of cabinet to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Brussels is openly advocating a multilateral format that would place Europeans, Ukrainians, Americans and Russians at the same table, a structure designed to prevent any separate bilateral deal that sidelines one camp.

For Ukrainians under bombardment and occupation, the polling data suggests that most still view endurance as safer than compromise. The costs are personal: more missile alerts for families in cities like Dnipro or Kharkiv, more months of separation for conscripts’ children, and an open-ended strain on an already exhausted health system and power grid. Yet the fear of what a premature deal might bring appears to outweigh fatigue for now.

On the diplomatic side, European officials face a different set of pressures. Budget cycles, weapons stockpiles and political calendars all impose limits. Italy has already frozen its 13th military aid package to Ukraine pending the outcome of US midterm elections, underscoring how domestic politics in NATO capitals can slow the flow of arms just as front lines harden. Within the EU, some governments are increasingly vocal about wanting a credible negotiating track, if only to demonstrate to their voters that every option short of indefinite war has been explored.

Ukrainian leaders have contributed to that tension. President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that there is "no progress" on territorial compromises and has rejected US ideas such as a demilitarized buffer along the Donbas front or territorial swaps involving the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. In parallel, he has told interviewers that Putin seeks to occupy and destroy Ukraine and that Kyiv’s understanding of Russia and its leadership makes it wary of trusting paper guarantees. That rhetoric reflects the mood captured in the KIIS poll more than the overtures now flowing from Western capitals.

The gap is not only about territory. It is about sequencing. Many Ukrainians may accept negotiations in theory but see them as a tool after further battlefield gains, not as a substitute for them. For European governments coping with stretched defense budgets and skeptical voters, the incentive runs the other way: contain costs and risks before the war grinds into a permanent, sanctioned stalemate.

The shareable lesson from the polling is blunt: outside actors can draft frameworks and float maps, but any settlement that Ukrainians perceive as rewarding aggression will face immediate resistance at home. A ceasefire that Ukrainians do not trust risks becoming a pause before a more dangerous round of fighting.

The next indicators to watch will come quickly. In the weeks ahead, Kyiv’s public line on territorial concessions and elections, the composition and mandate of the EU delegation, and any shifts in US security guarantees will reveal how much space actually exists between Ukraine’s domestic red lines and its allies’ appetite for a deal. If the numbers in polls like KIIS’ remain unchanged, negotiators in Brussels and Washington will be forced to frame peace proposals in terms that can survive not just in foreign ministries, but in Ukrainian streets and trenches.