BURSTAlmost half of Ukrainians now support President-elect Trump as he is set to take the Oval Office next month, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
The new national survey, commissioned by New Europe Center NGO, found that 44.6 percent of Ukrainians trust Trump, a far higher show of backing than in France, 16 percent, or Great Britain, 30 percent.
Trump’s approval rating jumped by over 30 points since last year. In 2023, the incoming U.S. commander-in-chief’s support in Ukraine was around 10 percent, far below President Biden’s 78 percent, according to the survey.
Trump has repeatedly said on the campaign trail that he would swiftly end the war between Russia and Ukraine that has been raging for over two and half years. In late November, he tapped a retired lieutenant general, Keith Kellogg, to be his special envoy to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The majority of Ukraine’s citizens, 57.2 percent, think that their allies are not doing enough to secure a victory against Russia, while nearly 40 percent are certain that their strategic partners are doing everything possible to guarantee a win in the war.
When looking at other international leaders, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was on top with around 65 percent support. Polish President Andrzej Duda was second at 64.6 percent. However, the pollster noted that trust in world leaders has dropped compared to last year for everyone but French President Emmanuel Macron, whose approval in Kyiv went up to 58.4 percent this year.
A November Gallup poll found that Ukrainians’ opinion of the U.S. government has been falling in recent months. Ukrainian citizens are less optimistic about the future while President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government’s approval rating has dipped by more than 15 percent compared to last year, Gallup found.
The survey was conducted from Nov. 15-27 among 1,000 Ukrainians. The margin of error was 3.1 percent.