Public support for Ukraine falling in US – Gallup
Public support for sending aid to Ukraine is continuing to decline in the US, with a new Gallup poll suggesting that many Americans are growing tired of Washington shipping billions of dollars in financial assistance to Kiev.
According to the survey published on Thursday, 41% of respondents said they believe the US government is doing “too much” to help Ukraine. This marks a increase of 12 points in the sentiment since a previous poll was conducted in June.
Meanwhile, the number of people who think the US is doing “the right amount” saw a drop from 43% in June to just 33% in the latest survey. Only a quarter of respondents said Washington’s current level of support for Ukraine was “not enough.”
When asked whether the US should provide financial assistance to Ukraine for “as long as Ukraine requests it” or if there should be a time limit, a total of 61% of respondents said they believed US aid to Kiev should be limited.
The Gallup poll also found that support for Ukraine was more or less split along party lines, with Republicans and Independents being less likely to support continued assistance to Kiev.
Last month, another survey conducted by Reuters-Ipsos also found that a growing number of Americans were opposed to supplying additional military aid to Ukraine, with even Democratic support seeing a sharp decline in the past several months.
The poll found that only 41% of respondents felt Washington should continue to provide weapons to Ukraine. In June, that number stood at 65%. Among Democrats, support for military aid stood at 52% in the October poll, compared to 81% in June when Kiev’s forces launched their much-touted counteroffensive that was expected to be a turning point in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
As Kiev ultimately failed to make any significant gains in the several-months-long campaign, instead suffering enormous casualties, support for continued US aid for Ukraine has also diminished among lawmakers.
In early October, Republican senators even threatened a complete government shutdown unless billions in aid for Ukraine was dropped from a government spending bill.
President Joe Biden has since been attempting to find a workaround to the issue and trying to convince GOP lawmakers to approve a $105 billion spending package intended to cover the security needs of Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, comparing the Ukraine conflict to World War II and arguing that “patriotic American workers are building the arsenal of democracy and serving the cause of freedom.”
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu stated on Wednesday that, despite continued shipments of NATO weapons, “the Kiev regime is losing” and failing to advance on the front lines, suffering high battlefield losses and decreasing morale among its troops.
