Ukrainians’ opinions of U.S. leadership falling: Gallup

Ukrainians' opinions of the U.S. government leadership have fallen to pre-war levels after reaching a high point in 2022, according to a new Gallup poll released on Wednesday.

Ukraine's public opinion of the U.S. leadership fluctuated from 20 percent to 40 percent between 2014 and 2021. The number shot up during 2022 as Russia's invasion of Ukraine kicked off in February and the U.S. became the largest provider of military aid to the war-torn country. Still, this year, the approval rating dipped back to pre-conflict levels, according to a Gallup poll.

As the U.S. ramped up its assistance to Ukraine following Russia’s military invasion, its leadership rating among Ukraine’s public jumped to 66 percent. Since then, as Ukraine's aid faced more scrutiny, particularly opposition from Republicans nationally, the approval rating dropped to 40 percent, Gallup noted. Now, nearly as many Ukrainians disapprove of the U.S. leadership, 37 percent, as they approve of it.

On the other hand, Ukrainians' opinion of Germany, Europe's most significant military backer of Kyiv, has remained consistent. This year's approval rating was 50 percent, only a slight dip from 2023 when it hovered around 53 percent.

Ukrainian approval of Germany's leadership was equal to U.S. leadership in 2023. However, as the war-torn country's approval rating toward U.S. leadership dropped this year, Berlin is now viewed more favorably than Washington for the first time since the war in Eastern Europe erupted, Gallup noted.

The poll also found that barely over half of Ukrainians, 51 percent, expect their country to join NATO in the next decade. The number is down nearly 20 points compared to last year when it was around 69 percent.

Around 22 percent think Kyiv will never enter the military alliance, nearly double the rate from 2023 to 2022.

The survey comes just a day after Ukraine fired the U.S.-provided Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) long-range missiles into Russia, shortly after President Biden's administration lifted the restriction on such weaponry.

More than half of Ukrainians, 52 percent, want their country to negotiate an end to the war, a Gallup poll released on Tuesday found. Around 38 percent want the military to continue fighting.

The Gallup survey was conducted among 1,000 respondents per poll each year. The margin of error was between 3.6 and 4.3 percentage points.