The majority of adult Americans have favorable views of Ukraine and the NATO military alliance while also seeing Russia as an enemy rather than a partner or competitor, a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center shows.
The survey, released on May 10, showed nearly two-thirds of respondents expressed a positive view of Ukraine as it battles to repel invading Russian troops, with a similar number holding the same view of NATO, which has been a key ally of Kyiv, supplying massive amounts of military aid since fighting broke out in February 2022 with the Kremlin's unprovoked invasion.
"Views of international engagement also correlate with attitudes of Ukraine. Those who believe it is best for the future of the U.S. to be active in world affairs are much more likely to have a positive view of Ukraine than those who say it is best for the U.S. to pay less attention to problems overseas and concentrate on issues at home," the survey said.
With Moscow's move against Ukraine more than 14 months old, Americans remain very negative toward Russia, with 91 percent having an "unfavorable view" of the country.
Those views are reflected in opinions of the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, Pew said, with a majority saying they have confidence in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to "do the right thing," while 90 percent had little to no confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The survey noted that there is a continued shift in how Americans view their place in the world, with 55 percent believing that the United States should focus less on overseas issues and instead concentrate on domestic issues. In the same survey a year earlier, that number stood at 51 percent.
There are also partisan divides on the issues surveyed, with Democrats and Democratic independents more likely than their Republican counterparts to have positive views of Ukraine and NATO.
Pew said the survey of 3,576 U.S. adults was conducted from March 20-26.