A majority of American citizens believe Vladimir Putin is guilty of war crimes in his invasion of Ukraine, according to the latest YouGov/The Economist poll released Thursday.
Just 11% of American adults do not believe Putin is guilty of war crimes, while 70% are convinced he is, and 19% remain unsure.
Registered voters (76%) are even more convinced Putin is guilty of war crimes.
Most Americans, 62%, are convinced it is at least somewhat likely "the Russian invasion of Ukraine will lead to a wider war in Europe," but less convinced (44% at least somewhat likely) it "will lead to a war between the U.S. and Russia."
Among the other findings on Russia's invasion of Ukraine as NATO, G-7, and European Union leaders meet late this week:
- 61% approve of U.S. government imposing additional sanctions on Russia.
- 73% still approve of applying additional sanctions even if it causes prices to rise in the U.S.
- 63% say it is good idea to send weapons to Ukraine.
- 56% say it is bad idea to "U.S. soldiers to Ukraine to fight Russians."
- Enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine? 35% say it is a good idea, 32% say it is a bad idea, and 32% are unsure.
- 63% say "yes" to Putin posing a serious threat to the U.S.
- 54% say it is at least somewhat likely the war will lead to a Ukraine nuclear power plant accident.
- 61% say "yes" to the U.S. accepting Ukrainian refugees.
When asked when the Russia's "special military operation" will end in Ukraine, the top response (20%) was two to six months, followed by sixth months to one year (14%).
A plurality of American adults are "uneasy" in confidence President Joe Biden can handle this international crisis, while just one-third (33%) are confident. A majority of registered voters are "uneasy" (51%) in having confidence in Biden.
Other notable Biden opinions in the poll:
- 57% say Biden is at least a somewhat weak leader.
- 50% have at least a somewhat unfavorable opinion of Biden.
- 50% have at least somewhat unfavorable opinion of Vice President Kamala Harris.
- 54% say Biden does not care much about people like them.
Biden is also 6 points underwater on having the trust of Americans and 7 points underwater on Americans being pessimistic about the next two years of his presidency.
On topics related to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Senate confirmation for the Supreme Court:
- 43% combined approve, 31% combined disapprove of Biden's nominating Jackson.
- 42% say the Senate should confirm Jackson, while 25% say the Senate should vote to deny her confirmation.
- 45% believe the Senate will ultimately confirm Jackson, while just 14% say the Senate will not.
YouGov polled 1,500 American adults citizens for The Economist between March 19-22, including 1,270 registered voters. The poll's margin of error for American adult citizens was plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, and plus or minus 3 percentage points for registered voters.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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