(CNN) — American support for economic sanctions on Russia is broad and bipartisan, new surveys of the public’s response to the sanctions show. war in ukraine. And so far, support holds even when considering the possibility of higher gasoline prices. At the same time, the American public remains largely opposed to direct US military action.
Here are some of the key findings from five recently released surveys of American adults, conducted between March 7 and March 14.
sanctions
Americans are very united in condemning Russia’s actions. Only 7% of those surveyed by the monmouth university considers that Russia’s actions in Ukraine are justified; with a surprising 10% of Republicans and 7% of Democrats saying the same. An 87% majority in a poll of ABC News/Ipsos says that Russian President Vladimir Putin bears at least a fair share of the blame for the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Support for economic sanctions is strong in all of these polls, regardless of the precise framing of the questions. And while people aren’t always good at predicting how they’ll react to future events, polls reveal that most Americans continue to support sanctions even as pollsters highlight their potential economic impact on the United States.
In the Monmouth poll, 81% of Americans support economic sanctions on Russia, even as 33% say in another question that these sanctions are doing a lot of harm to the US economy. In a Pew Research survey, 85% of Americans are in favor of maintaining strict economic sanctions on Russia.
That support crosses party lines. In the Monmouth poll, 75% of Republicans and 91% of Democrats support sanctions. Pew finds an even smaller partisan gap, with 85% of Republicans and Republican-leaning in favor, compared to 88% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning.
A survey of CBS News/YouGov reveals that 77% of Americans favor sanctions against Russia’s oil and gas exports, and 63% say they would support such sanctions even if they cause gasoline prices to rise. In the ABC/Ipsos poll, 77% say they support the US banning Russian oil imports, even if that means higher US gasoline prices.
About half of Americans (52%) say President Joe Biden’s actions toward Russia so far haven’t been strong enough, according to the CBS/YouGov poll. Those dissatisfied with the strength of Biden’s response mostly say they would like to see Biden apply tougher economic sanctions and give more arms and supplies to Ukraine, with few advocating direct military action against Russia.
United States military action
Unlike with sanctions, Americans’ views of a no-fly zone over Ukraine vary considerably depending on how the potential ramifications are portrayed, suggesting that much of the public is unaware of the full implications of this. politics.
In the CBS/YouGov poll, 59% of Americans initially supported a no-fly zone, but that number dropped to 38% once it was described as something that could be considered an act of war by Russia. . A survey of the Quinnipiac University found that 54% of Americans approve of NATO’s refusal to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine after hearing that such a no-fly zone would lead NATO countries into war with Russia, with 32% saying disapprove and another 15% who are not sure.
The ABC/Ipsos poll showed even more uncertainty, with 31% of Americans supporting the no-fly zone “even if it could mean bringing the United States and its allies into direct military conflict with Russia,” while the 34% oppose it and another 34% say they don’t know.
According to the Quinnipiac poll, only 17% of Americans say the US should do everything it can to help Ukraine, even if it means risking direct war between the US and Russia, while three-quarters Some parties (75%) say the US should do everything it can to help Ukraine without risking direct war. Similarly, 62% of the Pew poll oppose taking military action that poses a risk of nuclear conflict with Russia.
Biden’s response
President Joe Biden’s assessments of the conduct of the war in Ukraine seem stronger at this point than his work in general. The president received net positive ratings on the topic from Pew Research (47% approval, 39% disapproval), widely divided ratings from Monmouth (46% approval, 48% disapproval), and ABC/Ipsos (48% approval, 48% disapproval). 51% disapproval), and negative ratings from CBS/YouGov (46% approval, 54% disapproval) and Quinnipiac (42% approval, 49% disapproval).
Unlike his views on Russia policy, Americans’ views on Biden’s response to the issue are highly polarized. In the Quinnipiac poll, 81% of Democrats approve of Biden’s job, compared to 40% of independents and just 10% of Republicans. There is also not much evidence that this situation has significantly affected Biden’s overall approval rating, which according to Pew, Quinnipiac and CBS/YouGov remains relatively stable compared to previous polls of him.
This is consistent with the finding that while most of the American public is paying considerable attention to the situation, fewer consider it to be a top domestic issue. About 7 in 10 American adults say they have read or heard a lot about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Pew, and about half believe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a significant threat to US interests. But only 22% of Americans see the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the most important issue facing the United States, according to the CBS/YouGov poll, putting it slightly behind inflation (26%) and close to the economy and employment (20%).
The Quinnipiac University poll, conducted March 10-14, surveyed 1,936 American adults with a sampling error margin of +/- 2.2 percentage points. The Monmouth University poll, conducted March 10-14, surveyed 809 American adults with a sampling error margin of +/- 3.5 percentage points. The Pew Research poll, conducted March 7-13, surveyed 10,441 American adults with a sampling error margin of +/- 1.5 percentage points. The ABC News/Ipsos poll, conducted March 11-12, polled 622 American adults with a sampling error margin of +/- 4.4 percentage points. The CBS News/YouGov poll, conducted March 8-11, polled 2,088 American adults with a sampling error margin of +/- 2.6 percentage points. The Quinnipiac and Monmouth surveys were conducted with telephone interviewers to reach both landlines and cell phones; Pew Research, ABC/Ipsos, and CBS/YouGov surveys used nationally representative online panels.