An AP-NORC poll showed that support among the American public for supplying arms and direct economic assistance to Ukraine has waned, as the Russian invasion approaches a grim one-year milestone.
Weapon supply
The poll showed that 48% stated that they support the supply of weapons by the United States to Ukraine, while 29% opposed and 22% said that they do not support or oppose.
That is less than what appeared in May 2022, less than three months into the war, when 60 percent of American adults said they supported sending weapons to Ukraine. Americans are evenly split on sending government money directly to Ukraine, with 37% in favor and 38% opposed, and 23% saying either. Signs of declining support for Ukraine come as President Joe Biden prepares to travel to Poland next week to mark the first anniversary of Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.
Pay attention to priorities
“I sympathize with Ukraine and feel bad for them, but I feel we need to take care of the priorities here in our country,” said one of the Republican participants, Joe Hernandez, 44, of Brooklyn, California.
He added that it is difficult to support generous U.S. spending on military and economic aid to Ukraine when many American communities do not have the resources to deal with the fallout from migrant transit.
Promise to continue
Biden has repeatedly stated that the United States will help Ukraine “for as long as it takes” to fend off the Russian invasion, which began on February 24 last year. Privately, administration officials have warned Ukrainian officials, there is a limit to the patience of a narrowly divided Congress — and the American public — over the costs of a war with no apparent end.
And Congress has approved about $113 billion in economic, humanitarian and military spending in 2022. Biden capacity
The poll, conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
That 19% of Americans have a great deal of confidence in Biden’s ability to deal with the situation in Ukraine, while 37% said they have only some confidence and 43% have little confidence.
Views of Biden’s handling of the divide have largely varied along partisan lines. Among Democrats, 40% say they have a lot of confidence in Biden to handle the situation, 50% have some confidence and 9% hardly. Among Republicans, a large majority (76%) say they have no confidence, and these numbers are largely unchanged since last May.
Resistance faded
But as the war dragged on — and Ukrainian forces held out against the more powerful Russian army — some of that resistance faded. Biden agreed to send Light Multiple Rocket Launchers, known as HIMARS, Patriot missile systems, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Abrams tanks and more. However, Biden continues to reject Ukraine’s request for fighter jets.
Spending Act
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., vowed before winning the speakership that Republicans would not write a “blank check” to Ukraine once they took over. Some of the more right-leaning Republicans have criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, for his support of the $1.7 trillion spending bill, which included about $47 billion for Ukraine.
Economic sanctions
The poll showed that a majority of Americans, 63%, still support economic sanctions against Russia, although that too is down from 71% who said so in May 2022.
And 59% say limiting the damage to the US economy is more important than effectively punishing Russia, even if that means the sanctions are less effective.
General results
Overall, the poll shows that about a quarter of Americans, 26%, say the US should have a major role in the situation, down from 40% in March 2022.
And 49% say that the United States should have a secondary role, and only 24% say that it should not, since last March.
Democrats:
Democrats also remain more likely than Republicans to favor economic sanctions against Russia (75% to 60%)
Acceptance of refugees from Ukraine (73% to 42%)
Providing arms to Ukraine (63% to 39%)
and sending government money to Ukraine (59% to 21%).
Support has also declined at least slightly between Democrats and Republicans since last May.
Source: Alwatan News