Americans are deeply divided over how much of its internationally recognized territory, if any, Ukraine should seek to retake from Russia before agreeing to a peace treaty, according to a new survey conducted exclusively for Newsweek.
The Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll found that just 23 percent of Americans think Kyiv should seek to retake all the territory it has lost since 2014, when Moscow backed separatists seized land in Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine’s east and Russia captured then annexed Crimea.
Forty-five percent believe Ukraine should aim to regain all the territory it has lost since February 2022, when Russian forces launched an invasion, before agreeing to peace, with the remaining 32 percent responding that they “don’t know” what Kyiv should do.
Since the February 24, 2022, Russian invasion, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars of weaponry and other military support, helping Kyiv stall the invading army and even recapture some occupied territory near Kharkiv and the southern city of Kherson in late 2022, though more recently the two sides have been largely deadlocked.
SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/GETTY
Aid for Ukraine has become increasingly politically contentious in the U.S., with the Republican-controlled House refusing to pass President Joe Biden’s request for an additional $106 billion, including $61 billion for Ukraine, unless he makes major concessions on immigration.
Redfield & Wilton Strategies surveyed 1,500 eligible voters in the U.S. online on December 19 for the poll. Notably, the number arguing that Ukraine should seek to retake all of its land lost since 2014, including Crimea, fell from 28 percent in the survey conducted for Newsweek in February.
At that time, 46 percent of respondents said Ukraine should “recover all territory lost since February 2022, when Russia fully invaded,” before seeking peace, which is one point higher than the current figure, with 27 percent for “don’t know.”
Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry by email for comment.
Zelensky has repeatedly said that his aim is to recapture all the Ukrainian territory lost to Russia since 2022, plus Crimea.
“Ukraine will reclaim its territory and its people,” he said in October. “We will not leave anyone to the occupiers. We are using every means to ensure that this war ends with the defeat of the occupiers.”
The most recent Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey also found 41 percent of American voters believe the U.S. should “press for peace in the war in Ukraine, even if it means that Ukraine does not achieve a total victory and does not regain all of its pre-war territory.” Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed disagreed with the statement, with the remaining 30 percent saying they didn’t know.
Separately, 27 percent of U.S. voters said that since February 2022 they had “deliberately boycotted any brand or product because of its links to Russia” in response to the invasion, while 73 percent said they had not.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Novocherkassk landing ship was hit and sunk by cruise missiles in the Crimean port of Feodosia in the latest blow to Moscow’s Black Sea fleet. Russian-language Telegram channel Astra on Wednesday reported that 33 members of crew were missing, one was confirmed dead and 23 wounded.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.