Support among Russians for peace talks with Ukraine has reached near-record levels, with 65% of respondents favouring negotiations over continued military action. The figure is just below the 66% recorded in August, according to a new poll by the independent pollster, the Levada Centre.

Only 26% said they preferred the continuation of hostilities, a sign that the war fatigue long visible in anecdotal reports is now reflected in wider public sentiment.

“A majority of peaceniks (except the staunch antiwar and anti-Putin camp) favour peace on Russia’s conditions basically and they increasingly deem these conditions satisfied. That is, they think Russia is winning,” journalist and bne IntelliNews columnist Leonid Ragozin said in a social media post.

Patriotism is at an all-time high, but the peace camp has been steadily growing since the early months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The only period in which support for the war briefly surpassed support for talks was during Ukraine’s failed counter-offensive in 2023, a turning point that analysts say helped bolster the Kremlin’s narrative of battlefield momentum.

The current consensus in favour of negotiations, however, does not necessarily reflect a shift in attitude toward Ukraine or the West, but rather a perception that Russia’s strategic objectives have been achieved.

“Of course their (or Kremlin’s) expectations of an agreeable outcome differ greatly from the expectations attributed to them by the Western mainstream. As in, they don’t want to occupy the whole of Ukraine, annihilate its statehood or to attack Nato,” says Ragozin.

The poll indicates that the public believe the conditions for peace have been met. These conditions include the control of key territories and the prevention of Ukrainian Nato membership, rather than total military victory or regime change in Kyiv.

“Peace, yes—but on Russia’s terms” summarises the dominant view among this group. Previous polls show that most Russians do not want to see the five occupied regions returned to Ukraine in any peace deal. However, Russia’s peace supporters do not advocate the occupation of all of Ukraine, nor do they support the annihilation of Ukrainian statehood or an attack on Nato. But they do want the war to stop.

This framing aligns with the Kremlin’s evolving rhetoric, which increasingly positions Russia as the party open to diplomacy, while blaming Kyiv and Western governments for prolonging the conflict.

During a peace talks Moscow meeting on December 3 with the US envoys, Putin accused Europe of wanting war and blocking the negotiations by making unreasonable demands. Putin added that Europe has “removed itself” from the negotiation and is playing no part in talks.

Earlier this month, Putin repeated assertions that Russia has “no intention of attacking Nato,” and offered to sign a treaty guaranteeing that Russia would not attack Europe. However, he went on to say that if Europe wants to go to war with Russia, it is ready for a war and will fight.

In a separate survey, more and more Europeans fear the prospect of war, naming it among the top three concerns their country is currently facing.

Though Russian public opinion remains tightly managed and shaped by state media, the Levada poll suggests that a broad swathe of the Russian population now favours stabilisation over escalation, provided it does not come at the expense of perceived strategic gains or the return of captured territory.