Americans Sympathize With Ukraine as Peace Talks Aim To End War

This week, President Trump secured a mineral deal with Ukraine to recoup American spending on the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is joining Trump at the White House on Friday, and Russian and U.S. diplomats met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last week and in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday to discuss the end of the three-year-long Russia-Ukraine war. Although the war wasn’t over before Trump took office, as he had promised on the campaign trail, momentum is now shifting toward a possible resolution – a welcome development for both Ukrainians and Americans.

The latest polls examining the Ukraine war were conducted by The Economist/YouGov from Feb. 16-18 and Feb. 23-25. They found that among American citizens, the preferred outcome for 61% of respondents was that Russia keeps none of Ukraine’s territory. The majority of others said they “don’t know” if Russia should get any land from Ukraine, while only a minority of 15% said Russia should. The question didn’t give any specific reference to territory that Russia had taken before its invasion in 2022, including Crimea.

Similarly, the majority (58%) said they sympathized more with Ukraine than Russia, while only 3% said the reverse. Still, 27% said they sympathized with neither more than the other.

Sources differ on the exact casualties from the war, but estimates average around 60,000 to 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed, with another approximately 400,000 wounded, and around 150,000 to 200,000 Russian soldiers killed, with another 600,000 or more wounded. Another 12,605 Ukrainian civilians have also been killed, according to the United Nations.

Opinions of the leaders of Russia and Ukraine were slightly more divided. While Putin was widely disliked, with 78% unfavorable and 11% favorable, Zelensky had a split favorability rating, with 40% favorable and 34% unfavorable. This divide largely stemmed from differences between Democrats and Republicans, with Democrats at 63% favorable and 13% unfavorable, while among Republicans, only 20% were favorable and 56% unfavorable.

Trump has been leading the charge in criticizing Zelensky on X in recent days while these negotiations have been ongoing. In a Truth Social post, Trump called Zelensky a “Dictator without Elections” and said the only thing “he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle.’” He continued, saying he was the only one who could end the war because “Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going.” On Thursday, though, he clarified that he has “a lot of respect for him. We’ve given him a lot of equipment and a lot of money, but they have fought very bravely.”

Elon Musk has also given his share of criticism of Zelensky since starting his stint as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. On X, in response to a post that stated, “Zelensky doesn’t want peace, he wants money and power,” Musk responded with the “100” emoji, indicating 100% agreement.

The criticism of Zelensky and Ukraine regarding additional aid has affected public opinion on the issue as well. According to the poll, only 21% wanted to increase military aid to Ukraine, while 30% wanted to decrease it. Another 29% said they wanted to maintain the current level of military aid the United States is providing, though it is unclear whether that meant respondents wanted to send aid in similar amounts as previously given or only provide the military aid that is currently allotted.