More Americans believe USA should do more to help Ukraine – analysts
American support for Ukraine demonstrates a complicated trend: some 46% of Americans believe that the United States is not doing enough to help Ukraine, the highest figure since the beginning of the war, while there is a partisan split in attitudes towards further assistance, analysts noted during a panel discussion on the topic "Ukraine through the eyes of Americans: challenges of perception and communication strategies" at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Tuesday.
"Some 46% of Americans believe that assistance to Ukraine is insufficient - this is the highest level since the full-scale invasion. At the same time, 53% of respondents expressed their readiness to support Ukraine even in the event of a protracted conflict, while back in December 2024, half of Americans sought peace at any cost," noted Oleksiy Ivashin, coordinator of the initiative group for the creation of the Civil-Military Movement.
At the same time, the expert emphasized the record party split: 77% of Republicans support a quick end to the war, even at the cost of territorial concessions, while 82% of Democrats declare their readiness to support Ukraine "as long as necessary."
Despite this, a strong anti-Russian position remains among Trump voters: 75% support new sanctions against the Russian Federation, and 70% consider deterring Russia in Europe vital.
Yaroslav Bozhko, head of the political studies center Doktrina, notes that in Ukraine "excessive attention was paid specifically to the Democrats, to their environment," which was largely dictated by the fact that in Ukraine they preferred American media, which are mainly center-left, oriented to the position of the Democratic Party, "as well as the values of liberalism in the American interpretation of the word liberalism."
"The main problem of working with a conventional conservative voter in the United States is that he is outside these main large platforms, and therefore it is much more difficult to reach him... Republicans, conservatives, they focus on information in social networks... Such short messages, the very fact of their speed of delivery is already a huge advantage in the information war," he noted.
"In this sense, the USA is a fast country and we need to focus on non-classical forms of media, because Russia has a huge advantage there," Bozhko added.
Candidate of Political Sciences Ihor Zhdanov noted that there are many reasons for the growth of support for Ukraine in the USA, "including the growth among Republicans, because there is a change in Trump's position." At the same time, according to him, activists who at the beginning of the large-scale aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine launched extensive activities in the USA mainly worked with Democrats.
"Let them continue to work - we need to create several such groups at the state level, which should be coordinated ... and work with different target groups of voters - with intellectuals, with Democrats, with Republicans. These should be different people," he believes.
"There is no fatigue from Ukraine either in Europe or in the US - there is habituation," Zhdanov noted.
The head of the Ukrainian Security Club, Yuriy Honcharenko, emphasized that appeals to emotions and refutations of Russian disinformation are gradually losing their effectiveness. What is being replaced is the need for a deeper understanding of American public sentiment and political processes.
Military serviceman and political consultant Oleksandr Antoniuk noted that the American audience is still influenced by Russian narratives, while he emphasized the effectiveness of offensive communication based on facts, historical parallels, and strong visual images.
According to him, Ukraine is no longer a passive player in the communication war, but joint information work with partners, coordinated messages and public statements are already bringing results. "46% of Americans believe that their country is not doing enough for Ukraine - and this is a consequence of systemic communication," he said.
