A major new study from More in Common based on polling of 7,000 people across France, Germany, the UK, The US and Poland has found that, despite the breakdown in relations between Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Voldoymyr Zelenskyy, there remains strong public support for Europe to stand by Ukraine.
The poll found that while the British public tends to be even more supportive of Ukraine than their European counterparts, strong majorities in every nation surveyed believe Ukraine's defence is important to their country.
Most Germans (68 per cent), French (70 per cent), and Americans (71 per cent) consider defending Ukraine’s sovereignty important, with support rising to 87 per cent in neighbouring Poland.
In Britain, 79 per cent of the public believes protecting Ukrainian sovereignty matters to the UK—a sentiment shared across all voter groups, including nearly two-thirds of those who backed Reform UK. Meanwhile, 66 per cent of Britons want the UK to continue supporting Ukraine until Russia is pushed back to at least its pre-2022 borders.
While support for Ukraine is strong across Europe and the United States, British voters are uniquely united in their attitudes toward Ukraine, with remarkably little political polarisation.
On a range of measures - including the importance of Ukraine’s defence, sympathy for Ukraine and the belief that Russia started the war - the gap between voters of different parties in Britain is significantly smaller than in every other country polled.
Even as the US pulls support from Ukraine’s defence, Europe remains undeterred; few would want to see European countries mirror Trump’s military aid freeze.
Two-thirds of Britons think the UK and Europe should continue to support Ukraine even if the United States continues its pause in support. Only 17 per cent think that the UK should stop supporting Ukraine if the US does.
This view extends across Europe, with majorities of Polish (65 per cent) French (54 per cent) and German (57 per cent) people backing continued support for Ukraine as Trump steps away.
Of a potential 'coalition of the willing', Britain appears to be the most willing partner: 57 per cent of Britons would support sending British troops as peacekeepers in the case of a peace treaty.
There is some support for sending peacekeepers across Europe, although it is more muted. In France 44 per cent support sending French peacekeepers and 36 per cent oppose, whereas in Germany 41 per cent support sending German peacekeepers but 43 per cent oppose.
Poland is the least likely to support sending peace keeping troops - just 27 per cent support compared to 62 per cent who would oppose this, with many Poles fearing the potential for escalation of a conflict on their border.
The research also highlights that, following the events of the past two weeks, Britain’s support for Ukraine has been galvanised. Forty-four per cent of Britons say that they felt more sympathetic toward Ukraine following Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy's public dispute.
Meanwhile, the 'Special Relationship' appears to be under strain: the British public overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump's response to the war, and less than half (49 per cent) of Britons now consider the US to be an ally of the UK.
While European nations view Britain as an ally - 62 per cent in Germany, 71 per cent in France, and 64 per cent in Poland - fewer than half of French or German people extend the same sentiment to the US. In contrast, Americans largely see Europe as an ally, with 64 per cent viewing Britain as one, 59 per cent saying the same of France, and 52 per cent of Germany.