Half of Russians say military is justified to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO: poll
Twice as many Russians said it would be right for Moscow to take military action to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO compared to those who said it would be wrong, according to
a new poll released by CNN on Wednesday.
The survey revealed that 50 percent of Russian participants said they thought use of force would be justified to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, 25 percent said it would be wrong and the remainder said they were unsure.
However, 43 percent of Russians said it would be wrong for Russia to use military force to "reunite Russia and Ukraine" and 65 percent said they expected a peaceful end to the tensions between the two countries.
Nearly 2 in 3 Russians in the survey said they considered themselves and Ukrainians to be "one people," while around the same percentage of Ukrainians disagreed with this characterization.
Veteran Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner told CNN that Russians are aware that Western leaders have been warning about Russian President
Vladimir Putin's possible invasion of Ukraine.
“Russians know what Western leaders are saying. Their statements are widely featured in the media. The general feeling is that the West in fact wants Russia to attack Ukraine because that would be to the West’s advantage, it is goading Russia to attack," said Pozner.
“They are also of the opinion that, while Ukraine could not stand up to an all-out Russian invasion, Russia would lose much more from that than any military victory would win,” he added.
Ukrainians respondents split over how they felt tensions would end, with 43 percent saying the believed it would end peacefully while 43 percent disagreed with this prediction.
Twice as many Russians said it would be right for Moscow to take military action to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO compared to those who said it would be wrong, according to a new poll released …
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