By Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After half a year of war in Ukraine, a slim majority of Americans agree that the United States should continue to support Kyiv until Russia withdraws all its forces, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday.
The polling suggests continued support for President Joe Biden’s policy of backing Ukraine, despite economic worries and domestic political developments grabbing Americans’ attention in recent months.
The Biden administration has provided weapons and ammunition for Ukraine’s bid to repel Russian forces and is expected to announce a new security assistance package of about $3 billion, a U.S. official said, as Ukraine’s marks its Independence Day on Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed to recapture territory seized after the Feb. 24 invasion and in earlier incursions beginning in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.
Out of 1,005 people in the United States who took part in an online poll last week, 53% expressed support for backing Ukraine “until all Russian forces are withdrawn from territory claimed by Ukraine.” Only 18% said they opposed.
That support came from both sides of the political divide, although Democratic voters were more likely to back the position, with 66% of Democrats in support compared to 51% of Republicans.
A slim majority, 51%, also supported providing arms such as guns and anti-tank weapons to Ukraine’s military, compared with 22% who opposed.
In previous polls, higher numbers of Americans have backed providing arms to Ukraine but directly comparable polling was not available.
In line with past polling, there was little support among Americans from across the political spectrum for sending U.S. troops to Ukraine. Only 26% said they supported such an intervention, but 43% agreed with sending U.S. troops to NATO allies neighboring Ukraine who are not at war with Russia.
The poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Mary Milliken and Cynthia Osterman)
