A US poll taken before the diplomatic meltdown in the Oval Office on Friday between Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, found that only 4% of surveyed Americans are backing Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine – but a large minority of 44% said they do not support the invaded country either.
The CBS News/YouGov poll, conducted over three days beginning on 26 February, also found that a relatively slim majority – 52% – said they “personally support” Ukraine.
Support for Russia was highest among Republicans – whose party is led by Trump – at 7%. A 56% majority of those Republican said they didn’t have a preference between the two, and 37% supported Ukraine.
The polling found that – overall – 11% believed Trump’s actions and statements have favored Ukraine, and 46% said Russia.
Asked if they approved or disapproved ofthe way Trump was handling the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, 51% approved and 49% said they didn’t. The same percentages supported or opposed military aid to Ukraine.
The CBS polling also revealed that 30% consider Russia “friendly but not an ally” of the US – while 61% considered countries of western Europe, like the UK, France, Italy and Germany to be allies of the US.
But 35% said they considered western European nations to be “friendly but not allies”; 3% said unfriendly; and 1% said they considered them an enemy.
The most revealing aspect of the poll goes to the heart of the contentious Oval Office exchange between Trump and Zelenskyy, when the Ukrainian president attempted to persuade Trump and his cabinet that despite a “nice ocean” between the US and Europe, the US would in time feel “influenced” by Russia’s actions.
Trump retorted: “You don’t know that. You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”
A separate poll conducted using online interviews after the confrontation found that 49% of those polled said that Trump and Vice-President JD Vance had a stronger argument over the value of diplomacy with Russia.
The 2Way poll also found that 62% thought Zelenskyy’s remarks were offensive – and 55% said Ukraine needs to negotiate and end the war.
On Monday, the US president hit out at Zelenksyy’s comments that a deal to end the war “is still very, very far away”.
Trump posted that the comment was “the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer! … this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing.”
That post from Trump came after a New York Times report on Monday that said the president had planned to meet with top aides to discuss suspending or canceling US military aid to Ukraine.
The CBS poll appeared to reflect a sense of insulation to the Russia-Ukraine war. Poll respondents were asked if what happens between Russia and Ukraine matters to the interests of the US. And 31% said it mattered “a lot”; 42% said “some”; 18% agreed with “not much”; and 9% “not at all”.
Senior Republicans not directly involved in Russia-Ukraine peace talk efforts have continued to denounce Putin – even as they express support for how Trump handled his meeting with Zelenskyy.
That included the House speaker, Mike Johnson, who told CNN on Sunday that Putin is “not to be trusted and he is dangerous”, adding that Russia and other countries like China are “not on America’s side”. Yet Johnson also said on NBC that someone other than Zelenskyy may need “to lead” Ukraine after failing to show gratitude over US aid.
The Oklahoma senator James Lankford told NBC that Putin was “a murderous KGB thug” and a “dictator”, saying Zelenskyy was “rightfully concerned” that Putin “can’t be trusted” to respect a ceasefire agreement.
And regardless of political support for the US president, 76% said they thought Trump was making major changes to the America’s relationships with other countries. Of those, 31% said the relationships were better, 42% said worse, and 26% said it was too soon to say.
But there may be some optimistic signs for European countries hoping that the Nato will hold together through the current turmoil. Asked if the US should stay in the alliance or leave, 78% said it should remain – and 22% said it should leave.
But broader support for the current US foreign policy appears more mixed. Sixteen per cent said the US should take a leading role in the world; 67% said it should work equally alongside other allies; and 17% said it should not get involved in the world’s issues.
