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About two-thirds of Americans are pessimistic that an agreement will be reached to halt the war between Russia and Ukraine, according to a new Gallup survey.
The latest Gallup poll, which was released Thursday, found 67 percent of U.S. adults are pessimistic — including 22 percent who are very pessimistic and 45 percent who are somewhat pessimistic — that a deal will be struck to end the war in Eastern Europe. Another 31 percent were optimistic the two sides would reach a consensus to end the fighting.
The pessimism is persistent among many political factions, including 78 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of independents. Among Republicans, 57 percent said they were pessimistic about the war, which has been raging for around 3 1/2 years.
Sixty-six percent of respondents said think neither side is winning, 23 percent said Russia is winning, while 10 percent said Ukraine is, according to the survey.
The results came before President Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier this month. Days later, the president met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven other European leaders at the White House.
Before those meetings, 26 percent of Americans were very concerned and 52 percent were somewhat concerned that Washington and its allies in Europe would not be able to negotiate a deal to end the war in Eastern Europe.
In the poll, 73 percent said they are at least somewhat concerned that an agreement to end the war would be too favorable to Moscow. An even bigger majority of respondents, 87 percent, said they are at least somewhat concerned that the Kremlin would violate the terms of the potential agreement, while 21 percent were at least somewhat concerned the potential deal would be too favorable to Ukraine.
Americans are split on two ways on how the U.S. should help in ending the war. Among all respondents, 52 percent want Washington to support Ukraine in reclaiming lost territory even if it entails prolonging the conflict, the poll found, while 45 percent said they are in favor of the U.S. attempting to end the war quickly, even if it results in Ukraine having to give up parts of its territory.
Trump has pushed for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. So far, the meeting has been rebuffed by Russia as its military has continued to pound Ukrainian cities. Overnight, the Russian military struck parts of Kyiv, killing at least 20 people, damaging both the EU’s mission building and British Council offices.
In the poll, 46 percent said the U.S. is not doing enough to aid Ukraine, 25 percent argued Washington is doing too much, while 27 percent said the U.S. is helping the right amount.
The poll was conducted from Aug. 1-15, among 2,132 adults. The margin of error was 3 percentage points.
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