New polling suggests Americans aren’t happy with the way President Joe Biden is handling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the war enters its eighth month.
According to the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft poll — which was conducted by Data for Progress — more than half (57 percent) of the 1,215 likely voters surveyed support the U.S. pursuing diplomatic negotiations between the two nations, even if it requires Ukraine to make compromises with Russia.
Conversely, 32 percent of voters were against the idea, while the remaining didn’t have an opinion on the matter.
The poll, conducted between September 16 and 19, found that 49 percent of respondents support Congress and the Biden administration doing more diplomatically to end the war, despite Washington seemingly swearing off involvement in negotiations with Russia and Ukraine in favor of providing the latter military aid.
In a statement to Newsweek, the Quincy Institute’s advocacy director, Marcus Stanley, explained, “We found quite strong public support for the idea of pairing our assistance to Ukraine with a diplomatic or negotiation track.”
However, he pointed out Washington’s reluctance, noting that they would consider it “a radical perspective to say that we should even be talking to Russia at all,” adding that “Washington is pretty much all-in on just the military strategy at this point.”
The poll’s release (September 27) came a day before the Biden administration announced it would be providing a further $1.1 billion in security aid for Ukraine, bringing the total assistance the U.S. has provided Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24 to $16.2 billion.
