Recent research by the Pew Research Center has revealed a shift in public opinion regarding the United States’ backing of Ukraine amidst its ongoing conflict with Russia. According to their latest survey, less than half of Americans currently support their government providing aid to Kiev, with 49% believing that Washington does not have any responsibility to help and 48% asserting that it does.
This marks a considerable decrease in support since similar polls were conducted by the Reagan Institute last year, which found that 59% of Americans supported providing military aid to Ukraine, and another June 2023 Gallup poll that showed 62% of Americans backed US efforts to help Kiev. Despite this downward trend in public support for American aid to Ukraine, the Defense Department announced on Monday that it will send $200 million worth of air defenses and other weapons to Kiev, while also committing an additional $1.5 billion in longer-term support for the war-torn nation.
Since the conflict between Kiev and Moscow began in February 2022, the Biden Administration has allocated over $55.4 billion in “security assistance” to Ukraine, encompassing a wide range of lethal weapons. Meanwhile, US government debt reached a new grim milestone on Monday, surpassing the $35 trillion mark for the first time in history.
Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has criticized America’s continued financial support for Ukraine, stating that Washington is “burning colossal money in the furnace of the Ukraine conflict,” while also accruing massive amounts of debt. He further argued that American weapons would not help Ukraine win its battle against Russia and would only serve to prolong the war, resulting in even more casualties among both soldiers and civilians.