Ukraine (bbabo.net), - The number of Americans in favor of arms supplies to Ukraine and direct economic assistance to Kyiv remains high but has declined. This is evidenced by the results of a new survey by the Associated Press Public Policy Research Center - NORC, published on the eve of the first anniversary of the outbreak of the armed conflict in Ukraine, the Associated Press (AP) reports today, February 16.
About half of the survey participants (48%) were in favor of continuing pumping the Kyiv regime with American weapons. 29% were against it, another 22% did not give a definite answer.
In May 2022, less than three months after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, 60% of American adults supported sending arms to that country.
The opinion of the Americans polled about direct government financial assistance to Kyiv was divided almost equally: 37% - for, 38% - against. 23% found it difficult to answer.
Signs of waning support for Ukraine have come as US President Joe Biden prepares to travel to Poland next week to mark the first anniversary of Europe's biggest conflict since World War II, bbabo.net notes.
Biden has repeatedly said that the United States will help Ukraine "as much as it takes." Privately, however, White House officials have warned Ukrainian officials that the patience of a divided Congress and the American public over the costs of a conflict with no end in sight is not unlimited, the publication says.
In 2022, the US Congress approved about $113 billion in economic and military aid to Kyiv.
The poll showed that only 19% of Americans were "very confident" in Biden's ability to handle the situation in Ukraine, 37% expressed only "some confidence", and 43% said they had no such confidence.
The current public opinion poll also showed that a majority of Americans (63%) are still in favor of economic sanctions against Russia, although this figure has also decreased from 71% in May last year. At the same time, 59% believe that limiting the damage to the US economy is more important than effective sanctions against Russia, even if this means that sanctions will be less effective. Almost a year ago, the situation was reversed: at that time, 55% considered the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia more important, even if it meant damage to the American economy.
Overall, the study showed that about a quarter of Americans (26%) believe that the US should play an important role in the situation with Ukraine. This is significantly less than the 40% recorded in this issue in March 2022.
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