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The YouGov polling of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK was carried out in a dramatic week that left Europe’s leaders scrambling to respond to the prospect of the US pulling long-term support from Ukraine and its European allies.
Most Europeans think it is unacceptable to exclude Kyiv or Europe from peace talks and, while many think Russia would probably attack Ukraine again even after a deal, opinions are divided on Franco-British proposals to deploy European peacekeepers.
After Trump’s apparent alignment with Russia, the polling, carried out between 26 February and 4 March, found majorities in all five countries believed the US president had become a “very big or fairly big threat to peace and security in Europe”.
That sentiment was weakest in Italy at 58%, rising to 69% in France, 74% in Germany, 75% in Spain and 78% in the UK. By comparison, the share of people who said Russia’s Vladimir Putin was a threat ran from 74% in Italy to 89% in the UK.
Europeans have become markedly less willing to support the US militarily in the event of it coming under attack, the polling showed, and are also significantly more sceptical that Washington would honour its collective defence commitments under the Nato treaty.
If Russia were to attack the Baltic states and Poland, only between 18% and 39% of people in the UK, France, Spain and Italy believed the US would go to their aid – although people were more confident the US would defend their own respective countries.
Most Britons (65%) and Spaniards (55%) think Russia would probably attack Ukraine within 10 years of any peace deal, as do 49% of French respondents and 48% of Germans. Italians were split, with 35% thinking another war likely and 37% not.
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