Poll: Most Ukrainians Back Europe, Say US Wants Compromise with Russia

The majority of Ukrainians - 64% - consider Europe to be an ally that seeks peace with Russia based on fair terms. In contrast, attitudes toward the US are less favorable: 67% of respondents believe that America is tired of Ukraine and is pressuring Kyiv to make unacceptable concessions to Russia. These findings were published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) based on surveys conducted in February and March.

As the chart below shows, the perception is that Ukraine’s relationship with Europe is almost a mirror image of that with the US.

While 64% of Ukrainians view Europe as an ally supporting a just peace, while only 28% disagree. In the case of the US, however, 67% believe it is pressuring Ukraine into compromises due to war fatigue, and only 24% view the US as an ally seeking an acceptable peace, the KIIS analysts report.

KIIS also noted that some respondents were asked not about specific countries but about “the West” in general and which statement they agreed with more regarding Western support for Ukraine.

The research shows that trust in the West has declined compared to 2022. Between September 2022 to February 2024, those Ukrainians who believed in the West’s support and its desire for a fair peace fell from 73% to 49%.

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Hungary’s Veto on Ukraine Remains, Just Moved Down the Road

Hungary and Ukraine have reached a comprehensive agreement restoring linguistic, educational, and cultural rights to roughly 100,000 ethnic Hungarians in the Zakarpattia region. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that Budapest will conditionally support opening Ukraine’s first EU negotiating cluster once these measures are codified into Ukrainian law. While this milestone unblocks a two-year political stalemate and pocketed €16.4 billion in un-frozen EU funds for Budapest, it defers rather than eliminates Hungary’s veto power.

However, over the past year, sentiment has improved. In February–March 2025, that number had risen again to 62%. This suggests that most Ukrainians once again see the West as a partner supporting Ukraine in achieving a just peace.

The pollsters also point out that since assessments of “the West” closely mirror those of “Europe” it is reasonable to assume that most Ukrainians today primarily associate the West with European countries.

KIIS conducted two separate surveys: the first from February 14 to March 4, and the second from March 12 to 22. Both were conducted by telephone with adult residents living of government-controlled areas of Ukraine. The first sample included 2,029 respondents (margin of error ±2.4%), and the second — 1,326 respondents (margin of error ±2.5%).