A new poll from The Economist/YouGov shows the complexity of American opinion on Ukraine and Russia, with lights blinking green, red and yellow for aspiring White House occupants.
To start, only 13% of U.S. voters have favorable feelings toward Putin, while a whopping 81% are unfavorable. On the other hand, an impressive 61% maintain favorable feelings toward Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
While Democrats are more positive toward Zelenskyy than are Republicans, the fact is that Zelenskyy is much more popular among all U.S. voters than are America’s own leaders. In favorability, Zelenskyy beats Biden by 14 points, DeSantis by 13 points, Donald Trump by 16 points, Kamala Harris by 19 points, Chuck Schumer and Kevin McCarthy by 22 points and Mitch McConnell by 34 points.
In terms of partisan perceptions, Republicans believe Russia will eventually defeat Ukraine and Democrats expect Ukraine to win. Overall, voters think Ukraine is winning the war by a 26% to 20% margin, but a substantial 38% say neither is winning and 15% aren’t sure.
How far are Americans willing to go to help Ukraine win?
Eighty-three percent of voters favor supplying Ukraine with food and medical assistance — something both parties overwhelmingly support. Financial support meets with less enthusiasm, but still garners a majority: 55% of voters favor it and 30% don’t. Democrats support cash aid by a wide margin and Republicans oppose it by a fairly close margin.
On weaponry and equipment, a solid 57% favor giving tanks to Ukraine; 67% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans agree. Going beyond tanks, support remains higher than opposition, but drops below 50%.
Forty-nine percent of the electorate supports giving Ukraine long-range missiles and 32% oppose doing so. Both Democrats and Republicans favor doing so, although the former more so than the latter.
Voters are more inclined to supply Ukraine with fighter jets (47%) than not (34%); Democrats favor doing so by a wide margin and Republicans oppose doing so by a narrow margin.
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