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American voters are following the news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine closely and want to help.
With a majority of 63-32%, voters believe that the US should do more for Ukrainians in its fight against Russia.
A full 82% are concerned about the invasion and 76% agree with the reaction of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Fox News’ new national poll also shows that a growing proportion say the Russia-Ukraine conflict is relevant to life in the United States: 85% think so, up from 76% last month.
On this, Democrats and Republicans largely agree: 90% of Democrats and 85% of Republicans think what happens in Ukraine makes a difference here at home, about 8 in 10 Democrats and Republicans agree with Zelenskyy, and two-thirds do in each party want to do more for Ukraine.
What do voters mean when they say the US should do more?
Large majorities support continuing strict economic sanctions against Russia (80% in favour) and providing Ukraine with additional military equipment (78%). Fewer, albeit still majorities, support easing immigration rules to the US for Ukrainian refugees (67%), sending additional troops to nearby NATO countries (60%) and creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine (52%) . Voters balk at sending US troops to Ukraine, with twice as many (64%) opposed to the idea as they support (31%).
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Again, there is generally bipartisan support for each of these possible measures – although there is a partisan lacuna when it comes to easing immigration rules for Ukrainian refugees. This is preferred by 77% of Democrats versus 59% of Republicans.
Support for additional measures doesn’t mean voters aren’t worried about the potential costs. Three-quarters fear that supporting Ukraine could lead to a US-Russia war (75%) and that a US-Russia conflict could lead to a nuclear war (73%).
These concerns limit their desire to help. While 78% support providing more equipment to Ukraine, only 36% support providing “significant military assistance” if it risks a US war with Russia.
And even if 80% support economic sanctions against Russia, that number drops to 44% if sanctions result in higher prices and financial hardship for Americans.
A month after the Russian invasion, many voters still lack confidence in President Biden’s judgment in a crisis (53%), and more than half disapprove of both his handling of Russia (59%) and his response to the invasion (54%) .
Despite largely bipartisan support for the Russia response policy, there is little consensus on Biden’s assessments. Democrats are four times more likely than Republicans to approve of his response to the invasion (72% vs. 17%).
“Biden’s actions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are largely in line with voter preferences,” said Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, whose firm Beacon Research conducts the Fox News poll along with Republican pollster Daron Shaw. “But with inflation and ingrained partisanship at home, that’s not enough at this point to improve his overall standing in any meaningful way.”
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Currently, 45% of voters approve of Biden’s overall work record, while 54% disapprove. Last month it was 43-56%. That 2-point increase in approval comes from a doubling among Republicans to 15% — from 8% approval in February. 82% of Democrats and 33% of independents agree. Among those who approve of Biden overall, 80% agree with his response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Two-thirds (66%) disapprove of Biden’s handling of inflation – his worst assessment of the problems measured. About 6 in 10 disagree with Biden on China (57%), border security (58%) and the economy (59%).
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Handling the coronavirus is Biden’s only net positive assessment: 50% agree, 48% disagree.
“Some journalists and pundits have suggested that Biden may get a ratings boost due to what political scientists are calling the ‘rally-for-the-flag’ effect,” Shaw said. “But the ‘rally’ effect occurs after a president engages US forces in a conflict, and that doesn’t matter here. The perception of Biden in this case hinges much more on whether voters believe he’s walking that fine line between being tough with Putin and not going into another war with the US.”
Veterans are more likely than other voters to agree with Zelenskyy (by 7 points), think the US should do more for Ukraine (+8) and support sending more troops to nearby NATO countries (+8). They are less in favor of creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine (-9) and less believe that US support could lead to a US-Russia war (-7) or nuclear war (-9).
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Co-led by Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News poll, conducted March 18-21, 2022, includes interviews with 1,004 registered voters across the country who happened to be from a Interviewers were selected from the national voter database and spoken to live on both landline and mobile phones. The overall sample has a sampling error margin of plus or minus three percentage points.
Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.