UK Public Sceptical of Military Intervention in Ukraine

With President Biden having declared that he is now “convinced” that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has decided to invade Ukraine, where does public opinion lay when it comes to a potential military confrontation?

In the UK, Ipsos Mori earlier this month published polling which found that whilst 40% of those questioned supported  diplomatic and economic interventions against Russia and 36% supported humanitarian interventions, such as supporting Ukrainian refugees, just 17% would support UK troops being sent to intervene in any military conflict. 21% said they felt that Britain should not intervene at all.

Asked how they felt the UK Government had handled the situation between Russia and Ukraine, 23% said it had done a good job, compared to 33% saying it had done bad job. In contrast, 41% said Boris Johnson personally had done a bad job of handling the situation compared to 19% who said he had done a good job.

Questioned as to who, out of Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer, would do the better job of handling the crisis, 23% of all those polled said Boris Johnson compared to 22% who opted for the Labour Leader.

The opposition to UK military involvement is reflected also in polling by Redfield and Wilton as reported in The Spectator. This found that whilst 24% would support UK and allied troops being deployed to Ukraine if Russia were to invade, 40% would oppose such a step.

Across the European Union, a poll by Euroskopia found that 74% of those questioned felt that the EU  should defend Ukraine in case of a Russian attack. This was made up of 47% who felt it should use only diplomatic actions, 20% who felt the EU should consider defensive military action if needed, and 7% who said it should “even weigh military intervention in Russia.”

Meanwhile, in Ukraine itself, polling suggests that 65% of the public now support the country joining NATO with 74% supporting the idea of joining the European Union.  

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