Most Americans disapprove of President Trump’s approach to the country’s relationship with Russia and his handling of the situation in Ukraine, according to a new survey published on Friday.
The CNN poll, which was conducted by SSRS, found that 59 percent of respondents disapprove of Trump’s handling of Washington’s relations with Moscow. Some 41 percent said the opposite. Regarding Ukraine, 55 percent of U.S. adults disapprove of the president’s managing of the situation in war-torn Ukraine, while 44 percent said they approve of it, according to the survey.
Nearly six in 10 people, 59 percent, said it was “not too” or “not at all likely” that Trump’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war will bring long-term peace between the two Eastern European countries. Around 41 percent disagreed.
Americans were split when asked if the U.S. is providing “too much,” “too little” or “the right amount” of aid to Ukraine. Around a third, 32 percent, argued that Washington is doing too much. Nearly four in 10 respondents, 38 percent said the U.S. is doing too little while another 30 percent said the assistance provided is at the right amount, according to the poll.
The survey was done as Washington has engaged in negotiations with both Ukrainian and Russian officials to implement a 30-day ceasefire deal with the hopes of eventually ending the three-year war in Eastern Europe.
The U.S. said on Tuesday that it had resumed sharing military assistance and intelligence to Ukraine after Kyiv’s senior officials met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz in Saudi Arabia.
Ukrainian officials said after the meeting with the U.S. officials that the country is supportive of the 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington, with Rubio stating the ball is in Russia’s court.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he is open to supporting the 30-day ceasefire, but offered vague terms about his backing of the proposal.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was released on Thursday, found that the majority of Americans think that Trump is too closely aligned with Russia. The survey found that 56 percent of U.S. adults agreed with the assertion that the U.S. president is too close to Moscow.
The CNN poll was conducted from March 6-9 among 1,206 U.S. adults. The margin of error was 3.3 percentage points.