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The Cost of War

Analysis

War Support Monitor

How public support for military aid, sanctions, negotiations and troop deployment is changing in Europe, the UK, the US, Ukraine and Russia, built from published polls with the date and source of every figure.

Figures come from published polls and are updated when new waves appear. Questions differ between pollsters, so compare values within the same series.

Updated

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Main findings

  1. 1Majorities in most EU countries tracked still back financing weapons for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, but support is edging down: 57% EU-wide in autumn 2025 and 56% in spring 2026 for military equipment. Italy is split and Hungary is the clear exception.
  2. 2Sanctions are the most widely supported measure: from 49% (Hungary) to 86% (Poland) in the EU countries tracked here, and 69% in the United States, including 70% of Republicans.
  3. 3Sending troops is a minority position almost everywhere: 26–37% in the EU countries tracked here (ECFR, May 2026) and 31% in the U.S. Of the countries tracked, only Britain reaches half (51%).
  4. 4Ukrainians are war-weary but unwilling to concede: 66% want a negotiated end as soon as possible, yet 61% call giving up Donbas for security guarantees categorically unacceptable. Strong guarantees, such as European troops near the front, nearly double acceptance of a ceasefire.
  5. 5Most Russians favour peace talks (59–67% in every 2026 survey) while about 70% still say they support the army's actions. Young people lean most towards talks, and ending the war by returning annexed territory remains unpopular.
  6. 6In the United States, party is the deciding factor: 71% of Democrats but 48% of Republicans favour military aid, and Republican opinion has moved with the administration's position.

Figures last reviewed:

How support is measured

The monitor tracks four separate measures. They are asked differently, so each is shown on its own and never merged into a single 'support' score.

Military aid
Support for supplying or financing weapons and military aid to Ukraine. Wordings differ: EU respondents are asked whether they agree with the EU financing military equipment; U.S. polls ask whether America is doing 'too much' or 'not enough', or whether people favour military aid.
Sanctions on Russia
Support for imposing, keeping or tightening economic sanctions on Russia's government, companies and individuals.
Negotiations
Preference for a negotiated end to the war. In Ukraine and Russia this is the main question pollsters track. A higher value means more people favour talks now; it does not by itself mean support for any particular terms.
Troop deployment
Support for sending national troops to Ukraine, usually as peacekeepers or a reassurance force after a ceasefire or peace deal. In Ukraine, the question is whether people would accept a ceasefire if European troops were stationed near the front.

Compare countries

Only questions asked the same way in every country are compared.

Country profiles

European Union

Baltic states

UK, US, Ukraine, Russia

Germany

Trend over time

  • Military aid: Agree: EU financing the purchase and supply of military equipment to Ukraine (Eurobarometer)
  • Sanctions on Russia: Agree: economic sanctions on the Russian government, companies and individuals (Eurobarometer)
  • Troop deployment: Support sending national troops to Ukraine after a peace deal (ECFR)

Each line is one question from one pollster. Dashed lines show the opposite answer to the same question.

Key drivers

Differences by party, age or region

No published breakdown by party, age or region in the sources used.

All figures and sources

MeasureQuestionSupportFieldworkSource
Military aidAgree: EU financing the purchase and supply of military equipment to Ukraine (Eurobarometer)63%Oct – Nov 2025European Commission — Standard Eurobarometer 104
Military aidAgree: EU financing the purchase and supply of military equipment to Ukraine (Eurobarometer)63%(derived)Mar – Apr 2025European Commission — Standard Eurobarometer 104
Sanctions on RussiaAgree: economic sanctions on the Russian government, companies and individuals (Eurobarometer)75%Oct – Nov 2025European Commission — Standard Eurobarometer 104
Sanctions on RussiaAgree: economic sanctions on the Russian government, companies and individuals (Eurobarometer)76%(derived)Mar – Apr 2025European Commission — Standard Eurobarometer 104
Troop deploymentSupport sending national troops to Ukraine after a peace deal (ECFR)36%30 Apr – 13 May 2026European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)

Data limitations

  • Questions differ between pollsters and countries, so values are comparable only within the same series (same pollster and wording). The comparison chart only uses questions asked identically across countries.
  • Russia: polling takes place under wartime censorship and criminal penalties for 'discrediting the army'. Researchers disagree on how much fear and refusals distort answers; one study of 42 phone polls found no fall in participation, while critics point to unknown refusal rates and socially desirable answers. Treat levels with caution; trends within Levada's series are more informative. Post-Soviet Affairs (Taylor & Francis) · The Insider
  • Ukraine: polls cover only government-controlled territory. They exclude people in occupied areas and refugees who left after February 2022, and wartime telephone surveys add bias that pollsters say they cannot quantify. Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) · Gallup
  • Eurobarometer country figures for spring 2026 were not publicly available when this page was reviewed. Country trends therefore use spring and autumn 2025; spring 2025 values are derived from the change Eurobarometer prints beside the autumn figures and are marked as derived. European Commission — Standard Eurobarometer 104
  • Most figures have a margin of error of about ±2 to ±5 points, so small month-to-month changes may be noise. A few points are older than 12 months; they are kept to show the direction of travel and dated clearly.
  • Social media and news sentiment is not measured here. The page cites published polls and analyses only, never individual users. The daily scan lists new publications from pollsters and think tanks; figures change only when new polls are published and reviewed.

Downloads

PDF reportFindings, charts and every figure with its source.Slide deck (PPTX)Presentation with native, editable charts.Data (CSV)Every figure with question, fieldwork dates, source and link.

New publications to review

Scanned daily from pollsters and think tanks (Levada, Pew, ECFR, Chatham House, RUSI, Carnegie, CSIS, Brookings, IISS, Kiel Institute, KIIS, YouGov, Gallup, Eurobarometer). New figures are added to the monitor after review.