"WASHINGTON -- The majority of Americans support continuing aid to Ukraine in what will likely be a prolonged military operation with Russia, but support is becoming a partisan issue as Republican opposition grows to helping the country, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll.
Military and financial aid to Ukraine has emerged as one of many political flashpoints days before a midterm election in which control of Congress is at stake.
The continuing flow of aid is falling out of favor with some Republicans in the House of Representatives, who say they struggle to justify the overseas spending amid domestic concerns, including high inflation and economic uncertainty.
Some 30% of respondents overall said in the new survey they believe the administration is doing too much to help Ukraine, up from 6% in a March Journal poll. The change was driven by a big shift among GOP voters: 48% of Republicans now say the U.S. is doing too much, up from 6% in the previous survey.
The portion of GOP voters who said the U.S. isn't doing enough to help Ukraine fell to 17%, a steep drop from 61% in March.
In a separate question that wasn't asked in previous Journal surveys, 57% of poll respondents said they favor sending additional financial aid to Ukraine to support its effort, while 37% said they oppose it.
Among respondents, 81% of Democrats said they support additional financial aid for Ukraine, while only 35% of Republicans and 45% of independents said the same.
"Ukraine needs to fight their own battle, and we should have stayed out of it," said Kelly Carpenter, a 54-year-old Republican accounts-payable specialist from Galena, Mo. "We have so much going on here -- the border, crime, inflation is ridiculous -- we need to take care of our people in our country."
Eric Ramos, a Democrat from Austin, Texas, said that while he supports continued aid for Ukraine, issues directly affecting the homeland should take priority.
"It's got to be a balance of using money for what we need for ourselves as opposed to what other people need," said Mr. Ramos, a 33-year-old middle-school teacher. "You've got to take care of yourself before you can take care of other people."
The Biden administration has provided almost $18 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its operation in February. U.S.-provided weapons have helped Ukraine take back territory in the east and south.
Speaking in Berlin recently, Denys Shmyhal, the Ukrainian prime minister, said the operation had wiped out at least 35% of the country's economy. He called on the West to provide an immediate economic relief package of $17 billion. He also asked for $1.5 billion in economic aid a month from the U.S. next year.
Lawmakers are weighing plans to pass a multibillion-dollar aid package for Ukraine before year's end, congressional aides said, reflecting fears among Democrats and some Republicans that a new and potentially GOP-controlled Congress would be less supportive of such assistance." [1]
1. U.S. News -- Election 2022: Republicans Increasingly Opposed To Aid for Ukraine, New Poll Finds
Salama, Vivian.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 04 Nov 2022: A.4.
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