Follow us on social

51171957295_c5d2aa062b_o-scaled

Poll: Public support for sending military assistance to Ukraine slips

According to Associated Press survey, those who favor providing weapons to Kyiv falls below 50 percent for first time.

Europe

As the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, support for providing weapons to Ukraine has dipped slightly below 50 percent for the first time, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Respondents who either “strongly” or “somewhat” support providing weapons to Kyiv dropped from 60 percent last May to 48 percent now. The change is especially notable among those who strongly favor sending weapons, which has slipped from 36 percent to 25 percent in that same timeframe. Consequently, the number of respondents who were strongly opposed to the question increased from 19 percent to 29 percent. Across all questions, the poll shows decreasing public support for imposing sanctions, accepting Ukrainian refugees, and sending government funds directly to Kyiv, though a majority of Americans remain in favor of the first two propositions. 

The poll, which surveyed 1,068 adults between January 26 and January 30, 2023, is the the fifth poll AP-NORC has conducted on Russia-Ukraine related questions since February 2022, but it is the first since last May.  

Democrats remain more committed to Ukraine than Republicans, with a majority of Democrats affirming their support of each of the questions, though the percentage in favor has decreased across the board. 

Republicans were more split on these questions, with a slight plurality supporting sending weapons (39 percent, to 37 percent opposed, with 22 percent answering “neither”), and a 58 percent majority opposing sending direct government funds. Most Republicans continued to support economic sanctions and accepting refugees. 

Overall, a steady half of the public wants the United States to play a “minor role” in the war. However, those clamoring for Washington to play a “major role” have shifted from 32 percent in May to 26 percent today, and those who want the United States to retreat to playing “no role” have increased from 19 to 24 percent. This was the only question that was also asked in March of last year, when 40 percent wanted Washington to play a major role, and only 13 percent believed it should play no role. 

Support has waned since the last AP-NORC poll was taken in May. Since then, the level and scope of U.S. financial support has steadily grown, with Washington sending Patriot missile systems, and recently agreeing to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks. The Republican Party has won a majority in the House in last November’s midterm elections, and GOP lawmakers have begun to express skepticism over ongoing support for Ukraine. 

Confidence in President Joe Biden’s ability to handle the crisis is not especially high in either party. Forty percent of Democrats expressed “a great deal of” confidence in the president, with half of respondents having “only some” and the remaining nine percent saying that had “hardly any” confidence in Biden. Among Republicans, those numbers were two, 19, and 76 percent, respectively.


Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 6, 2021. [State Department photo by Ron Przysucha]
Europe
Afghanistan withdrawal
Lloyd Austin, Kenneth McKenzie, and Mark Milley in 2021. (MSNBC screengrab)

Turns out leaving Afghanistan did not unleash terror on US or region

Military Industrial Complex

It will be four years since the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan on Aug. 30, 2021, ending a nearly 20-year occupation that could serve as a poster child for mission creep.

What began in October 2001 as a narrow intervention to destroy al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that perpetrated the 9/11 attacks, and topple the Taliban government for refusing to hand over al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama bin Laden, morphed into an open-ended nation-building operation that killed 2,334 U.S. military personnel and wounded over 20,000 more.

keep readingShow less
Francois Bayrou Emmanuel Macron
Top image credit: France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou arrives to hear France's President Emmanuel Macron deliver a speech to army leaders at l'Hotel de Brienne in Paris on July 13, 2025, on the eve of the annual Bastille Day Parade in the French capital. LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

Europe facing revolts, promising more guns with no money

Europe

If you wanted to create a classic recipe for political crisis, you could well choose a mixture of a stagnant economy, a huge and growing public debt, a perceived need radically to increase military spending, an immigration crisis, a deeply unpopular president, a government without a majority in parliament, and growing radical parties on the right and left.

In other words, France today. And France’s crisis is only one part of the growing crisis of Western Europe as a whole, with serious implications for the future of transatlantic relations.

keep readingShow less
Starmer Macron Merz
Top image credit: France's President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrive at Kyiv railway station on May 10, 2025, ahead of a gathering of European leaders in the Ukrainian capital. LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

Europe's snapback gamble risks killing diplomacy with Iran

Middle East

Europe appears set to move from threats to action. According to reports, the E3 — Britain, France, and Germany — will likely trigger the United Nations “snapback” process this week. Created under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), this mechanism allows any participant to restore pre-2015 U.N. sanctions if Iran is judged to be in violation of its commitments.

The mechanism contains a twist that makes it so potent. Normally, the Security Council operates on the assumption that sanctions need affirmative consensus to pass. But under snapback, the logic is reversed. Once invoked, a 30-day clock begins. Sanctions automatically return unless the Security Council votes to keep them suspended, meaning any permanent member can force their reimposition with a single veto.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.