To End War in Ukraine, GOP Voters Increasingly Favor Territorial Concessions to Russia

As the Trump administration looks to end the three-year war in Ukraine, it has been decidedly less friendly to the country than its predecessor, including on the topic of territorial concessions to Russia. That appears to have filtered down to parts of the American electorate, namely the Republican base.

According to our latest survey, Republican voters are now more likely than not to say the United States should push Ukraine to let Russia keep some territory it gained after its full-scale invasion in 2022 than to oppose territorial concessions even if it means lengthening the war. This marks a notable shift from December, when voters of the president's party were more likely to say Ukraine should hold its ground.

Democrats and independents, however, have moved in the opposite direction as peace talks have geared up, which means the larger electorate remains nearly twice as likely to say that America should not push Ukraine to accept Vladimir Putin’s terms.

When it comes to the two countries’ leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is more liked and lesser-known than his Russian counterpart among the overall electorate, but like Putin, his favorability ratings are underwater with Republican voters — even before an Oval Office blow-up with President Donald Trump on Friday.

Roughly 2 in 5 Republican voters hold unfavorable views of Zelenskyy, compared with 26% who view him favorably, making him uniquely unpopular among Republicans. And while more Republicans than not hold unfavorable views of Putin, they’re warmer to him than Democrats or independents.

Those contrasts between Republican voters and other Americans are a reflection of Trump’s rhetoric that dates back to his first presidential campaign and presidency, when he shocked most elected Republicans with displays of apparent respect for Putin. In recent months, he’s grown more antagonistic toward Zelenskyy, especially after the Ukrainian leader’s swing-state visit to Pennsylvania during the peak of the 2024 campaign.

The bottom line

Though there’s little sign that the confusion many GOP defense hawks feel about Trump’s foreign policy outlook filters down to the party’s voter base, their befuddlement does appear to be reflected among the broader electorate.

Views about Trump’s handling of foreign affairs have declined more than any other issue except the economy: Voters are only 8 percentage points more likely to approve than disapprove of Trump’s handling of foreign policy, down from 16 points at the start of his term.

That decline has come as what voters report hearing about global matters and international affairs trended negative since he took office, our weekly tracking shows, even as issues like immigration and national security have improved.

Foreign policy typically doesn’t weigh heavily on voter behavior, but this data is the latest reminder of Trump’s penchant for polarizing public opinion and increasing divides between his base and the rest of the country. And unfortunately for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the feedback loop between Trump and his base looks likely to leave him more isolated from America than ever.