Majority of Americans say U.S. should back Ukraine until all Russian troops withdraw: Poll

A majority of Americans say the U.S. should keep providing weapons and other support to Ukraine until all Russian troops withdraw from the country, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday.

The survey, released six months to the day after Russia launched its Feb. 24 invasion, found strong support for Ukraine across the American political spectrum. In all, 53% of Americans said the U.S. should support Ukraine “until all Russian forces are withdrawn from territory claimed by Ukraine,” compared to just 18% who opposed that policy, according to the survey.

About 66% of Democrats and 51% of Republicans expressed that view, the poll found.

The survey indicates that Americans support the Ukrainian goal of fighting until Russian troops are pushed out of Ukraine entirely. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted his forces will eventually push Russia out of the disputed Donbas region and even out of Crimea, which Russia forcibly annexed in 2014.

It’s a lofty goal for the Ukrainian military even with regular shipments of weapons and equipment from the U.S. and its NATO allies. But Kyiv has shown little appetite for negotiating with Russia or giving up any of its territory.

Wednesday’s fresh polling data suggests that a majority of Americans do not support Ukraine ceding any of its territory to Russia, regardless of how long the war drags on.

Reuters said that 1,005 Americans took part in the online poll, which has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

In Europe, public opinion seems to be more divided. A May poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations found that a plurality of Europeans, about 35%, favored immediate peace with Russia even at the expense of territorial concessions by Ukraine.

Just 22% said that Russia’s clear and total defeat was the most important consideration.