As Ukraine president visits Washington, where does American public stand on more aid?
During a visit to Washington, D.C., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried to persuade Congress to provide more military aid to his embattled nation. His visit comes as Washington and the American public are strongly divided over the prospect of sending additional aid.
On Dec. 12, Zelenskyy met with a group of senators at the Capitol before moving over to the White House to meet with President Joe Biden.
The meeting is intended to “underscore the United States’ unshakeable commitment” to supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, which began in February 2022, according to the White House.
The meeting comes as Biden has requested that Congress pass a supplemental aid package, including funding for Ukraine, before the holiday recess starting at the end of the week.
What does the American public think about additional aid?
Recent polls reveal that Americans are strongly divided over the prospect of sending further aid to Ukraine.
Less than one-third of survey respondents, 31%, said the U.S. is providing too much aid to Ukraine, according to a Pew Research Center poll released on Dec. 8.
The poll, which sampled 5,203 adults, found 29% of Americans believe the U.S. is sending the right amount of aid, while 18% believe the country is not sending enough.
About half of those who are or lean Republican said the U.S. is granting too much support, while only 16% of those who are or lean Democrat said the same.
A Financial Times-Michigan Ross poll released on Dec. 11 found even higher levels of opposition to additional funding for Ukraine.
The poll found 48% of voters believe the U.S. is spending “too much” on financial and military aid to Ukraine, according to the poll. Less than one-third, 27%, said the U.S. was providing the right amount, while 11% said it was not providing enough.
Since the Russian-Ukrainian war began nearly two years ago, the level of support for American aid to Ukraine has shrunk, particularly among Republicans, according to the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank.
More on the latest aid package plan
In addition to Ukraine aid, the $106 billion package would provide funds for Israel and the U.S.-Mexico border, the Associated Press reported.
Senate Republicans unanimously voted against a version of the aid bill on Dec. 6, arguing that it did not include enough border security measures, according to Reuters.
“We must not only help Ukraine — we must also help ourselves,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham wrote in a Dec. 11 post on X. “We must institute border security policies that will make our nation safer.”
Since the outbreak of war, Congress has appropriated over $75 billion in funding for Ukraine, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, citing data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research institute.
Much of that money has gone toward purchasing equipment from the American defense industry to send to Ukraine, according to the Department of Defense.
About 500,000 Ukrainian and Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the war began, according to an August estimate from the New York Times, citing American officials.
The conflict has largely been frozen in a stalemate over the past year as less than 1% of Ukrainian “territory has changed hands” during the past 11 months, according to Politico.
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 11:37 AM with the headline "As Ukraine president visits Washington, where does American public stand on more aid?."