Defense

Half of Americans believe US should support Ukraine ‘as long as it takes’ to win: poll

by Julia Shapero - 02/23/23 7:55 PM ET

FILE – Ukrainian soldiers prepare a U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer to fire at Russian positions in Kherson region, Ukraine, Jan. 9, 2023. A rapidly expanding group of U.S. and allied troops and contractors are using phones and tablets to communicate in encrypted chat rooms to provide real-time maintenance advice to Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. As the U.S. and other allies provide a growing number of increasingly complex and high-tech weapons, the maintenance demands are expanding. (AP Photo/Libkos, File)

Half of American respondents in a new poll on Thursday said the U.S. should continue to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to win the war against Russia, which has now dragged on for a year.

Fifty percent of respondents in a poll from Fox News said America should continue to back Ukraine through the end of the war, while another 46 percent said there should be a “limited timeframe” on U.S. support.

Democrats are more likely than their Republican counterparts to say that U.S. support should last however long it takes Ukraine to win, according to the poll. While 66 percent of Democrat respondents said the U.S. should continue to aid the Ukrainians for the remainder of the war, 61 percent of Republican respondents said there should be a tangible end.

The split appears to reflect current dynamics in Congress, where House Republicans have suggested that they would like to rein in aid to Ukraine. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) warned in October that a potential GOP majority in the House, which has since been realized, would not write a “blank check” to Ukraine.

The U.S. has directed more than $75 billion in aid toward Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to PBS NewsHour. During a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, President Biden promised another $500 million in military assistance.

The Fox News poll was jointly conducted by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research from Feb. 19 to 22 with 1,006 registered voters. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.