Fewer Americans support arming Ukraine: Poll

The share of Americans across the political spectrum who support sending arms to Ukraine has dropped, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey released Thursday.

The poll, conducted Tuesday and Wednesday, showed only 41 percent of respondents said they agreed that the United States should provide weapons to Ukraine, down from 65 percent of respondents who said the same in a June 2023 survey.

That decline in support for sending weapons to Ukraine extends across parties. Democratic support dropped from 81 percent in June to 52 percent in October. 

Republican support dropped from 56 percent to 35 percent in the same period. Independent support dropped from 57 percent to 44 percent.

The decline in support comes after Congress passed a continuing resolution Saturday to extend government funding until Nov. 17 that did not include funding for Ukraine. Many members have vowed to pass separate legislation to provide more aid in the immediate future, however.

President Biden has made an additional request to Congress for more assistance for Ukraine, and the White House has warned of potential consequences of not passing more aid. 

The issue has also become central in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, as a more isolationist view of foreign policy has dominated hard-right flanks of the party. 

The latest poll showed support for sending financial aid to Ukraine to be even lower than that for sending arms. In the October survey, 37 percent of respondents agreed that the U.S. should provide financial assistance, including 51 percent of Democrats, 26 percent of Republicans and 41 percent of independents. 

Another recent poll showed a larger share of Americans backing both types of aid for Ukraine, however. In a poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs released Wednesday, 61 percent of respondents supported sending economic assistance to the country and 63 percent supported sending arms and military supplies. 

Though that survey found support to be higher across the political spectrum, it also showed a partisan split, with 76 percent of Democrats, 47 percent of Republicans and 58 percent of independents supporting economic aid and 50 percent of Republicans, 77 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of independents supporting military aid.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online and included 1,005 adults nationwide. There was a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.