BYU students gathered to hear Celeste Beesley, associate professor of international relations, discuss Ukrainian public opinion on the ongoing war with Russia on March 19.
As part of the Kennedy Center’s “Building and Brokering Peace” series, the lecture explored the complexities of international negotiations, the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the challenges of achieving a lasting peace.
Beesley outlined the growing resistance of the Ukrainian public to bargaining with Russia, despite the prolonged and costly nature of the war. She noted that recent surveys indicate that most Ukrainians reject making territorial concessions, even as the conflict continues into its fourth year.
"For most Ukrainians, peace is not worth the price of losing their sovereignty," she said.
According to data from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, only about a third of Ukrainians support negotiations if Western military aid were to stop. However, 74% still favor continuing the fight — even without U.S. support.
The lecture also highlighted Ukrainians’ deep mistrust of Russia’s credibility in peace agreements. Beesley pointed to Russia's consistent pattern of broken promises — including the violation of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which guaranteed Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for giving up its nuclear arsenal.
“There’s a real fear that any deal struck with Russia would be disregarded,” Beesley said.
Gabriell Sabalones, an adjunct instructor for BYU’s model United Nations course, found the statistics particularly striking. For her, the lecture was a powerful reminder of how difficult achieving consensus can be.
“Reaching consensus for something like a peace agreement requires so much more work and buy-in than people realize,” Sabalones said.
Addie Brown, a BYU sophomore studying human development and Global Women’s Studies, said she appreciated the lecture’s focus on public sentiment rather than just political rhetoric.
“I’ve heard so much about what the leaders on both sides are saying, but seeing the actual feelings of the Ukrainian public was really impactful,” Brown said.
Beesley also addressed the misinformation battle, explaining that while Ukraine engages in propaganda efforts, the country’s media environment remains far less controlled than Russia’s.
“Ukrainians have access to a much wider range of independent information sources,” she said. In contrast, Russia’s tightly controlled media landscape distorts public perception of the war.
As the lecture concluded, Beesley offered a sobering reflection: “For many Ukrainians, fighting for peace is a contradiction they’re willing to live with — because the alternative may be no peace at all.”