With a 12% decrease, less Americans support aid for Ukraine: Poll

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A new poll showed that many Americans are growing impatient with the US government's support of Ukraine. According to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, support among the American public for giving Ukraine weapons and direct economic assistance has waned as the war approaches its one-year mark.

48% support the United States giving arms to Ukraine, 29% oppose it, and 22% are neither in favor nor opposed, as per the poll. In May 2022, less than three months into the war, 60% of US adults supported sending weapons to Ukraine, it further showed.

The poll revealed that Americans are roughly evenly divided on whether or not to transfer federal funding directly to Ukraine, with 37% in favor, 38% opposed, and 23% saying neither.

The signals of waning support for Ukraine come as President Joe Biden prepares to visit Poland next week to commemorate the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

It is worth noting that Biden has vowed repeatedly that the US will assist Ukraine "for as long as it takes." Privately, administration officials have told Ukrainian leaders that there is a limit to the patience of a splintered Congress — and the American people — for the expenditures of a war with no clear end in sight. In 2022, Congress allocated around $113 billion in economic, humanitarian, and military spending.

19% of Americans have a high level of confidence in Biden's ability to handle the situation in Ukraine, while 37% have some confidence and 43% have none, as per the poll.

Biden's handling of the war has mostly divided opinion along partisan lines. Among Democrats, 40% have high confidence in Biden to handle the crisis, 50% have some confidence, and 9% have none. A huge majority of Republicans (76%) believe they have little confidence. These figures have remained basically constant since last May.

The US President has agreed on sending light multiple rocket launchers known as HIMARS, Patriot missile systems, Bradley fighting vehicles, Abrams tanks, among others. However, Biden continues to reject Ukraine's request for fighter jets.

And 59% believe that avoiding economic damage to the United States is more important than properly penalizing Russia, even if it means sanctions are less effective. Almost a year ago, in March 2022, the situation was reversed: 55% believed it was a higher priority to successfully restrict Russia, even if it meant harming the US economy.

The poll of 1,068 individuals was conducted from January 26 to 30, using a sample taken from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is supposed to be representative of the United States population. For all respondents, the margin of sampling error is 4.2 percentage points.

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