More than half of Americans see Russia-Ukraine conflict as critical threat: Gallup

More than half of Americans view a Russia-Ukraine conflict as a critical threat to U.S. interests, according to a Gallup poll released Friday that was conducted before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As tensions with Russia rose during Gallup’s Feb. 1-17 World Affairs poll, 52 percent of Americans surveyed said that the conflict was a critical threat.

That is an 8-point increase from 2015, when 44 percent of U.S. adults said that the conflict when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine was a critical threat.

Respondents who identified as Democrats (61 percent) were slightly more likely than Republicans (56 percent) to see the conflict as a critical threat.

However, Republicans (72 percent) are more likely than Democrats (64 percent) to see Russian military efforts as a critical threat more generally. Independents were slightly less likely to view Russia as a threat, at 48 percent.

The poll found the least favorable attitude toward Russia in more than 30 years, as only 15 percent of respondents said they had a positive opinion of Russia while 85 percent viewed the country unfavorably.

The percentage of Americans who viewed Russia unfavorably grew by 8 points since numbers were recorded in 2021.

Before 2014, the majority of Americans viewed Russia favorably. Tensions between Russia and Ukraine and Russian attempts to interfere in U.S. elections have caused that number to drop significantly in past years.