Third of Americans believe US troops should be sent to Ukraine – Newsweek

A study exclusively for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies shows that 31% of eligible voters in the United States favor or strongly support Americansoldiers going to the front lines of Ukraine.

Of those surveyed, 25% were undecided about the concept of sending US soldiers to Ukraine, while 34% were against it. Fewer than 10 percent of the respondents were unsure.

The Pentagon declined to comment when Newsweek approached it over the poll's findings.

When it comes to military support, the United States is by far Ukraine's largest ally. Ever since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022, Washington has offered Kyiv over $43 billion in security assistance. However, since the beginning of the war, the Biden administration has stated that American forces will not go to the front lines in Ukraine.

A total of 1,500 people participated in the online poll, carried out between July 25 and July 26.

According to the survey, "Millennials," or people between the ages of 27 and 42, were most likely to "strongly support" sending American troops to Ukraine. Though a larger percentage of respondents (47%) who were born between 1997 and 2012 stated they strongly or somewhat supported sending US soldiers, more respondents (47%) indicated they would support the proposal overall.

A quarter of respondents over the age of fifty-nine "strongly" opposed the idea of the United States sending soldiers to Ukraine, making up nearly one-third of those who disagreed.

The percentage of "Gen Z" respondents, or those between the ages of 18 and 26, who strongly disagreed with sending American troops was just 4%.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, President Joe Biden declared that American military forces "are not and will not be engaged in a conflict with Russia in Ukraine."

Biden said US forces would be transferred to Europe, but they were not heading to the continent "to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the east."

"As I made crystal clear, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with a full force of American power," Biden said at the time.

However, Ukraine is not part of the alliance, despite calls from Kyiv to be allowed to join and promises from NATO that Kyiv could become a member state in future.

NATO countries are reluctant to allow Ukraine to join the alliance while it is still at war with Russia because of their obligation under Article 5 to recognize an assault on one state as an attack on all.

In the Newsweek survey, 47% of participants indicated that they either agreed with or strongly agreed with Ukraine's admission to NATO, while just 15% disagreed. Another 29% said they were neither in favor of nor against it, and 10% said they were unsure.

Of those surveyed, just more than 25% thought that Ukraine should join NATO right now, while 37% thought that Ukraine should join NATO when the conflict with Russia is resolved.

• On July 29, the White House Security Council Coordinator John Kirby said that the US military personnel currently present in Ukraine are not taking part in combat operations. There are a small number of US military personnel in Ukraine who guard the US Embassy in Kyiv and represent the US Defense Attaché Office in Ukraine.