Britons hold a more favourable view of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky than America’s Donald Trump amid an astonishing spat between the two men, a new poll suggests.
An Ipsos survey showed three in five Britons (60 per cent) believe the Ukrainian President has done a good job of handling Russia’s brutal invasion.
This compares to less than one in five (19 per cent) who approve of Mr Trump’s response to the three-year long conflict.
The poll also revealed that half of Britons (50 per cent) are more concerned about the Ukraine war following Mr Trump’s re-election as US President.
Less than one in five (19 per cent) are more reassured about the conflict since Mr Trump’s return to the White House.
The US President recently astounded European capitals by branding Mr Zelensky a ‘dictator’, while he also falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war.
In a stinging riposte, Mr Zelensky accused Mr Trump of spouting Russian propaganda by saying he was ‘living in a disinformation space’ created by Moscow.
Sir Keir Starmer is due to visit Mr Trump in the White House this week in an effort to shape the US President’s view on a possible peace deal with Russia.
An Ipsos survey showed three in five Britons (60 per cent) believe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has done a good job of handling Russia’s brutal invasion
This compares to less than one in five (19 per cent) who approve of Donald Trump’s response to the three-year long conflict
The Ipsos poll revealed more than half of Britons (53 per cent) continue to support the UK’s provision of economic, himanitarian and defensive aid to Ukraine.
Less than one in five (16 per cent) opposed the UK’s current role in the conflict.
One-third of those surveyed (34 per cent) said the UK Government had done a good job of handling Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
A quarter (26 per cent) said it had done a bad job, with 29 per cent saying ministers had done ‘neither’ a good job or a bad job.
US and Russian officials recently met in Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible peace deal, ahead of the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin.
It came after US defence secretary Pete Hegseth dashed Kyiv’s hopes of returning to its pre-2014 borders – before Russia annexed Crimea and territory in eastern Ukraine.
The Ipsos poll showed a quarter of Britons (26 per cent) believe Ukraine’s conflict with Russia will end with both sides keeping whatever territory they currently hold.
A similar proportion (23 per cent) said they don’t know how the war will end, while 17 per cent said there would be a return to the borders before Mr Putin’s 2022 invasion.
Only 13 per cent thought there would be a return to the pre-2014 borders.
Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK Politics at Ipsos said: ‘Our latest poll, taken just before the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, shows the British public remain concerned about the war and its implications both at home and abroad.
‘While support for the UK’s backing of Ukraine remains in the majority, the election of Donald Trump appears to have complicated the picture, with many Britons anxious about its impact on the situation.
‘As US policy towards the conflict shifts with the arrival of the new administration and European nations discussing increasing defence spending, the conflict is likely to change considerably in the coming weeks and months.
‘Even now, while the public remains supportive of Ukraine, there is no consensus over how the war is likely to end.’
Ipsos polled 1,097 British adults aged 16 to 75 online between 3 to 5 February.
