Survey Report

As the Obama administration announces new economic measures against Russian officials and companies, the public supports increased U.S. economic and diplomatic sanctions by a 53% to 36% margin. But by roughly two-to-one (62% to 30%), Americans oppose sending arms and military supplies to the Ukrainian government.

The new national survey by the Pew Research Center and USA TODAY finds that only about a third of Americans (31%) think that what happens between Russia and Ukraine is “very important” to the United States; 36% say events in the region are somewhat important to the U.S. while 29% say they are not too important or not at all important.

The survey, conducted April 23-27 among 1,501 adults, finds only modest partisan differences in opinions about U.S. policy toward the crisis in Ukraine. Comparable percentages of Republicans (55%) and Democrats (58%) favor increased sanctions against Russia and majorities in both parties oppose arming the Ukrainian government.

There are much larger partisan differences in opinions about Barack Obama’s handling of the crisis. More than half of Republicans (55%) say Obama has not been tough enough in dealing with the situation in Ukraine, compared with 33% of independents and 23% of Democrats. These views have remained steady over the past month.

Currently, most Americans are aware of the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Still, fewer than half (46%) say they have heard a lot about the situation; more say they have heard either a little (34%) or nothing at all (20%) about this situation.

Views of Sanctions against Russia, Arms to Ukraine

There are substantial demographic differences in opinions about increased economic sanctions against Russia. College graduates, older Americans and men – who are more likely than other groups to have heard a lot about Russia-Ukraine tensions – are among the most supportive of tougher economic sanctions against Moscow.

The differences are less pronounced in opinions about sending arms and military supplies to the government of Ukraine. Majorities across most major demographic groups oppose providing military assistance to Ukraine.

People who view the situation in Russia and Ukraine as very important to the interests of the United States (31% of the public) are far more likely than those who view it as less important to favor increased sanctions against Russia and providing arms and military to Ukraine.

Fully 73% of those who say events in Russia and Ukraine are very important to the U.S. favor additional sanctions and 48% support arming the Ukrainian government. Among the much larger share of the public (65%) that sees the situation there as less important to the United States, 46% support increased sanctions and just 23% favor providing arms and supplies to Ukraine.

Views of Obama’s Handling of Ukraine

Obama continues to receive mixed reviews for how he is dealing with the situation between Russia and Ukraine.

Four-in-ten (40%) say he is handling things about right while 35% say he is not being tough enough; very few say he is being too tough (6%) and 20% are unable to offer a rating.

Opinions on this questions remain highly partisan, with a majority of Republicans (55%) saying he is not being tough enough. Democrats back Obama’s approach to the dispute, with 56% saying he is handling things about right.

Roughly a Third Sees Ukraine Crisis as Very Important to the U.S.

About three-in-ten (31%) say what happens between Russia and Ukraine is very important to the interests of the U.S., 36% say it is somewhat important and 29% say what happens in Ukraine is not too or not at all important to the U.S.

Republicans (40%) are more likely than Democrats (30%) and independents (27%) to say that the situation involving Russia and Ukraine is very important to U.S. interests.

Young adults under 30 are among the least likely to view the situation as very important to the U.S.: just 20% say this compared with about four-in-ten of those 50-64 (41%) and 65 or older (38%).

College graduates are much more likely than those with less education to say they have heard about the situation between Russia and Ukraine. However, they are no more likely to say what happens in Ukraine is very important to the interests of the U.S. (roughly three-in-ten across education levels say this).

The analysis in this report is based on telephone interviews conducted April 23-27, 2014 among a national sample of 1,501 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (600 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 901 were interviewed on a cell phone, including 449 who had no landline telephone). The survey was conducted by interviewers at Princeton Data Source under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. A combination of landline and cell phone random digit dial samples were used; both samples were provided by Survey Sampling International. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. Respondents in the landline sample were selected by randomly asking for the youngest adult male or female who is now at home. Interviews in the cell sample were conducted with the person who answered the phone, if that person was an adult 18 years of age or older. For detailed information about our survey methodology, see http://pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/politics/methodology/.

The combined landline and cell phone sample are weighted using an iterative technique that matches gender, age, education, race, Hispanic origin and nativity and region to parameters from the 2012 Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and population density to parameters from the Decennial Census. The sample also is weighted to match current patterns of telephone status and relative usage of landline and cell phones (for those with both), based on extrapolations from the 2013 National Health Interview Survey. The weighting procedure also accounts for the fact that respondents with both landline and cell phones have a greater probability of being included in the combined sample and adjusts for household size among respondents with a landline phone. Sampling errors and statistical tests of significance take into account the effect of weighting.

The following table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey:

Sample sizes and sampling errors for other subgroups are available upon request.

In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.