Despite an overwhelming majority of Americans supporting far-reaching sanctions slapped on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, a new poll shows the public is split over President Biden’s handling of Europe’s largest land war in eight decades.
While a whopping 81 percent back the penalties that have targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin, his country’s economy and its oligarchs, according to a Monmouth University poll, 48 percent disapprove of Biden’s response to the attack on Ukraine while 46 percent approve.
Only 16 percent of respondents said they oppose the sanctions and 4 percent don’t have an opinion.
There are similar levels of backing for the US ban on Russian oil and gas imports, with 78 percent saying they support the embargo, 17 percent opposing, and 5 percent saying they don’t know.
The poll found that 81 percent of Americans support the sanctions on Russia. Monmouth University Poll
A woman and child evacuating a residential building amid Russian shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 16, 2022. State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERSDespite widespread support for sanctions, many Americans are expressing skepticism about their effects, with 71 percent saying they are having a minor impact or no impact at all on Russia, with only 25 percent saying they were having a major impact on Moscow’s economy.
By contrast, 72 percent believe the sanctions are hurting the US economy – with 33 percent saying they were affecting it a lot and 39 percent saying they were having a little impact.
When asked about the disposition of American forces, 69 percent said they supported upping the number of troops in Europe as a deterrent to Putin — though more than half (56 percent) say they oppose sending the US military to Ukraine.
A bomb crater in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 16, 2022. AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy
The latest events in the Russian invasion of Ukraine on March 16, 2022.
More than two-thirds of Americans (69 percent) also said they were “very” or “somewhat” worried that the fighting in Ukraine could lead to a nuclear war, with just 30 percent saying they were “not too” worried or “not at all” worried.
Nearly nine of 10 Americans (89 percent) said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began Feb. 24, is not justified, with just 7 percent saying it is.
The poll surveyed 809 adults between March 10 and 14 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
