A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday has revealed that support for sending additional funding to Ukraine is falling across both political parties in the United States.
The poll was conducted over two days, closing Wednesday. It showed that only 41% of respondents agreed the US “should provide weapons” to Ukraine, while 35% disagreed. Another 24% were unsure.
When asked that same question in May, 46% agreed, while only 29% disagreed and 25% were unsure.
While there remains a partisan split with more Democrats supporting Ukraine funding than Republicans, most of the drop since May has come from Democrats who are also souring on aiding the conflict. Among Republicans, support only dropped four points since May, from 39% to 35% but support from Democrats dropped nine points, from 61% to 52%.
The study comes as Congress is debating providing further military and financial aid to Ukraine. US President Joe Biden asked Congress for $24 billion in additional aid, but a large and growing group of Republicans in the House have begun opposing further aid and no package for Ukraine was included in the stopgap funding bill that kept the government open for another 45 days.
On Wednesday, Biden insisted that funding the Zelensky regime is crucial to US interests and is supported by the American people. “[T]he majority of the American people still [support] Ukraine, and the majority of the members of the Congress — both Democrat and Republican — support it,” he said.
Biden claimed he had a method to get Ukraine more funding without congressional approval and promised to explain more at an upcoming “major speech.” Details about the method and the date of the speech have not been clarified by the White House, although reports citing government insiders suggest Biden may be considering tapping on grants held by the US State Department.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned weapon shipments to Ukraine, warning that they will only escalate the conflict.