Most Americans agree the U.S. should continue to support Ukraine despite threat of nuclear weapons use by Russia

Washington, DC, October 10, 2022 – The latest wave of our Reuters/Ipsos poll tracking the Russia/Ukraine crisis finds nearly two-thirds of Americans are closely following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Impressions of how President Joe Biden is handling the conflict are largely unchanged from earlier this year. Thirty-eight percent of Americans approve of how Biden is handling Russia (compared to 37% at the end of April), and 46% approve of how he is handling Ukraine (same as in April).

Two-thirds of Americans (65%) are concerned the war may escalate if Ukraine is provided longer-range weapons that could hit undisputed Russian territory, and 58% are afraid we’re headed toward nuclear war with Russia.

However, fewer Americans say they are worrying a great deal or a fair amount about the Ukrainian people than earlier this year (64% vs 69% in late April). Despite this, most Americans (66%) continue to support the U.S. providing weapons to Ukraine, although this is down seven points from late April (73%).

Also, compared to late April, Americans are less likely to support a candidate who advocates for continuing to provide Ukraine with military aid (69% vs 76% in late April) or one who supports Ukrainian refugees (72% vs 78%). Ultimately though, 73% of Americans say the United States should continue to support Ukraine despite Russia threatening to use nuclear weapons.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between October 4-5, 2022. For this survey, a sample of 1,005 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. 

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Annaleise Lohr
Director, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

For more from this series, please visit our Voices of Ukraine mini-site.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is the world’s third-largest Insights and Analytics company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts, and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions, and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers, or employees. We serve more than 5,000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.