The study, conducted in January across 12 European Union countries, including Poland, found that 20 percent of respondents predicted a Russian victory, the euronews.com website has reported.
Pessimism about the war's outcome was being fueled by Ukraine's failed counteroffensive, a potential US policy shift and the possibility of Donald Trump getting back into the White House, according to euronews.com.
Though support for Ukraine among Europeans remains high, some form of "compromise settlement" is seen by those polled as the most likely solution to the war, euronews.com reported.
It said support for Ukraine regaining its lost territory was strongest in Sweden (50 percent), Portugal (48 percent) and Poland (47 percent), while a preference for pushing Kyiv to accept a peace settlement was most common in Hungary (64 percent), Greece (59 percent) and Italy (52 percent).
The findings of the Wars and Elections: How European Leaders Can Maintain Public Support for Ukraine study come on the eve of the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
Thursday is day 729 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, euronews.com