Since January of 2022, the U.S. has given Ukraine more military aid than all other countries combined. In fact, the U.S. accounts for 63% of the total military aid to Ukraine. (It has also given a large amount of non-military aid, although not quite as much as the EU.) And it continues to provide the country with real-time battlefield intelligence.
Suffice it to say that U.S. military assistance has been crucial to Ukraine’s war effort.
For the first six months of the conflict, Americans were on-the-whole very supportive of their government’s policy. Yet by September opinion had shifted. In a Pew Research survey that month, 20% said the U.S. is providing “too much” support versus only 18% who said “too little”.
Where did things stand now? The most recent polls suggest a sizeable chunk of Americans remain committed to military assistance, though a growing number are sceptical. Here’s a chart showing the latest data from Pew Research:
26% of Americans now say the U.S. is providing “too much” support versus only 20% who say “too little”. On the other hand, the percentage saying either “about right” or “too little” is still larger than the percentage saying “too much”. Only among Republicans is there a plurality saying “too much”.
Another useful source of public opinion data is the University of Maryland’s Critical Issues polling. The latest such poll, completed in early April, confirms that more Americans now feel the current level of support is “too much” than feel it is “too little”. However, it also confirms that those who feel it is “too much” are outnumbered by those who feel it is “too little” or “about right”.
Unfortunately, the University of Maryland did not ask this question in earlier polls, so we can’t track the change over time. One question they did ask in earlier polls is, “How much of a cost are you prepared to see the U.S. pay in helping Ukraine?” The question refers to three different potential costs: “higher energy prices”, “inflation”, and “loss of lives of U.S. troops”.