About half of Republicans say the U.S. is providing too much aid to Ukraine

As the war in Ukraine nears the two-year mark, about three-in-ten Americans (31%) say the United States is providing too much assistance to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, while about half say that the U.S. is providing the right amount of support (29%) or not providing enough (18%).

The share of Americans who say the U.S. is giving too much support to Ukraine has grown steadily over the course of the war, especially among Republicans.

A new Pew Research Center survey, conducted Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, 2023, among 5,203 members of the Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel, finds that:

• 48% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the U.S. is giving too much aid to Ukraine. This share is up modestly from June, when 44% said this, and is substantially higher than it was at earlier stages in the war.

• Just 16% of Democrats and Democratic leaners view the current level of U.S. aid as excessive. Around four-in-ten Democrats (39%) say the U.S. is providing the right amount of aid, while around a quarter (24%) say the U.S. is not providing enough assistance.
• Partisan differences over Ukraine aid have grown wider. In the first weeks of the war, Republicans were only 4 percentage points more likely than Democrats to say the U.S. was providing too much aid to Ukraine (9% vs. 5%). Today, Republicans are 32 points more likely to say this.

Public attention to the Russia-Ukraine conflict is little changed in recent months. Six-in-ten Americans, including similar shares of Republicans (62%) and Democrats (61%), say they follow news about the invasion at least somewhat closely.

How much of a threat to the U.S. is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

A third of Americans say Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a major threat to U.S. interests. A similar share (34%) say it is a minor threat, while 10% say it is not a threat.

These views have changed only modestly since June. But in March 2022, half of Americans said Russia’s invasion posed a major threat to U.S. interests.

As has been the case for the last year, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say Russia’s invasion is a major threat (40% vs. 27%). But people in both parties are less likely to say this now than in the early days of the war in March 2022.

Views of the Biden administration’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Around four-in-ten U.S. adults (39%) say they approve of the Biden administration’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while a similar share (41%) disapprove. Two-in-ten say they are not sure.

Disapproval of the administration’s response has increased slightly (from 35% to 41%) since June.

A majority of Democrats (59%) approve of the administration’s response, while 22% disapprove. In contrast, a slightly larger majority of Republicans (63%) disapprove of the administration’s response, while 21% approve.

In both parties, somewhat larger shares now disapprove of the Biden administration’s response to the invasion than did so in June, when 57% of Republicans and 16% of Democrats said they disapproved.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published Jan. 31, 2023, and updated on June 15, 2023. Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology.