International

Americans largely split on support for Ukraine aid as Congress passes deal: Survey

FILE - Ukrainians and their supporters carry a huge Ukrainian flag during a rally at the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Americans are split about whether the United States should continue to send more aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia, despite Congress recently passing a bill to do so, a new survey found.

The survey, conducted by YouGov, found that 28 percent of Americans support increasing aid for Ukraine, but 29 percent say the U.S. should decrease aid. Twenty-six percent think it should remain at the same level.

The number of Americans who support increasing aid to Ukraine topped at 31 percent in September 2022 and has since fluctuated. It hit an all-time low this past September, when only 18 percent of Americans supported increasing aid.

The number of Americans who support decreasing aid to Ukraine rose to 33 percent in October, shortly after the Israel-Hamas war broke out, but the lowest it has been was 24 percent in October 2022.

The survey found that Democrats were three times more likely than Republicans to favor increasing military aid to Ukraine. Forty-eight percent of Democratic respondents supported increasing aid, while just 10 percent support decreasing aid. Sixteen percent of Republicans supported increasing aid, and 43 percent said they want to decrease the spending.

Congress just passed a badly needed foreign aid package for Ukraine that gives the country $61 billion to continue its battle against Russia. The package was held up for months as Republican lawmakers battled among themselves about sending aid abroad without addressing the immigration crisis at the border.

The survey mirrors another that recently found Americans are divided over the entire foreign aid bill itself, not only the spending focused on Ukraine. The survey found that 43 percent supported the overall bill, while 35 percent opposed it.

The YouGov survey was conducted Sunday through Tuesday among 1,651 adults. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.