The press release was prepared by Anton Grushetskyi, executive director of KIIS

From May 15 to June 3, 2025, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted its own all-Ukrainian public opinion survey “Omnibus”, to which, on its own initiative, added own questions about the perception of European / US policy towards Ukraine, the perception of D. Trump’s role for Ukraine and the attitude towards the USA / ordinary Americans / US leadership. By the method of telephone interviews (computer-assisted telephone interviews, CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting) in all regions of Ukraine (the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine), 2,004 respondents were surveyed (about 500 respondents answered the question about the perception of European / US policy towards Ukraine, and about 1,000 respondents answered the other questions). The survey was conducted with adult (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, lived in the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Government of Ukraine. The sample did not include residents of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (at the same time, some of the respondents are IDPs who moved from the occupied territories), and the survey was not conducted with citizens who left abroad after February 24, 2022.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the margin of error of a sample around 1000 respondents (with a probability of 0,95 and taking into account the design effect of 1,3) did not exceed 4,1%. the margin of error for the sample around 500 respondents does not exceed 5,8% .

Under the conditions of war, in addition to the specified formal error, a certain systematic deviation is added. Factors that may affect the quality of results in "wartime" conditions were previously cited by KIIS.

In general, we believe that the obtained results are still highly representative and allow a fairly reliable analysis of the public moods of the population.

The majority of Ukrainians – 64% – believe that Europe remains a reliable ally that wants an acceptable end of the war for Ukraine. 24% do not think so. At the same time, the perception of European policy towards Ukraine has not changed since February-March 2025.

In the case of the US, the situation is almost mirrored. Although the perception of the US police towards Ukraine has improved somewhat since March 2025, the majority (58%) still believe that the US is getting tired of Ukraine, its support is weakening, and they are pressuring Ukraine for concessions. The US is still perceived as a reliable ally that wants a peace acceptable to Ukraine by 32%.

Graph 1. And with which statement about Europe/the USA support for Ukraine do you agree to a greater extent?

If in December 2024 more than half (54%) of Ukrainians had optimistic expectations about D. Trump, then in the next survey in March 2025 the vast majority (73%) believed the opposite, that is, they claimed that it was bad for Ukraine that D. Trump was the President of the USA.

As of May-early June 2025, the perception of D. Trump has practically not changed. Currently, 72% think that it is bad for Ukraine that D. Trump is the President of the USA. Only 16% think that it is good.

Graph 2. Do you think it is good or bad for Ukraine that Donald Trump is the President of the United States?

Table 1. Do you think it is good or bad for Ukraine that Donald Trump is the President of the United States?(full results)

Since February 2025, we have seen a sharp deterioration in the perception of the US leadership’s policy towards Ukraine, and therefore discussions about the possible formation of “anti-Americanism” among Ukrainians has become justified.

At the same time, Ukraine has already had a specific experience of transforming attitudes towards Russia, when, despite the open aggression in Crimea and Donbas, for a long period there was a differentiated attitude towards the Russian leadership and ordinary Russians. In particular, on the eve of the invasion, 76% of Ukrainians had a bad attitude towards the Russian leadership, but 75% had a good attitude towards ordinary Russian who were residents of Russia. And only after the full-scale invasion of 2022 do we see a consolidated position, when the absolute majority of Ukrainians (absolutely justified) also have a bad attitude towards ordinary Russians[3].    

Obviously, the actions of the US Government in recent months have not been at the same level as the actions of Russia and Russians, so individual questions about, for example, US policy cannot fully reflect the attitude of Ukrainians towards Americans and the US (and may even lead to false conclusions). Therefore, we also asked how Ukrainians in general feel about the US, how Ukrainians feel about ordinary Americans, and how Ukrainians feel about the US leadership.

Thus, despite everything, the majority of Ukrainians – 63% – continue to have a good attitude towards the US in general. Have a bad attitude – 29%.

At the same time, there is a significant differentiation depending on whether we are talking about ordinary Americans or the US leadership. So, 90% have a good attitude towards ordinary Americans (and only 3% have a bad attitude). At the same time, 68% have a bad attitude towards the US leadership. Have a good attitude towards the US leadership – 24%.

Graph 3. How do you feel in general about…?

A. Grushetskyi, comments on the survey results:

Ukrainians retain trust in Europe and primarily consider cooperation with it as the basis for continued resistance and development (here we should recall that in March 2025, 82% of Ukrainians answered that even without US support, Ukraine should continue to resist the Russian aggressor together with Europe[4]). However, it is an open question how long such faith will last without strong signals and actions from our European friends. Ukrainians could not help but notice that the recent threats and ultimatums of certain European leaders to introduce new strong sanctions against Russia have not become a reality (at least for now). In addition, Ukrainians see resistance to Ukrainian European integration. Other aspects also have a significant impact (for example, the fading of public discussions about peacekeepers). Later, we will publish the results on the decline in optimism about Ukraine’s European prosperous future, which, among other things, reflects some disappointment with Europe’s actions.

Therefore, Ukrainians currently feel the support of Europe, but the foundation is already cracked and we call on European friends not to ignore the alarming trends and to provide the necessary support to Ukraine. This should include a steady movement on the issue of European integration, sufficient military and financial support, and effective sanctions against Russia. At the same time, it should be taken into account that these notes of disappointment can and will be used by our enemy – Russia – in its information campaigns to weaken both Ukraine and Europe.

In the case of the USA, Ukrainians retain a critical perception of the leadership and its policies. However, both towards the country as a whole and towards the ordinary population in particular, Ukrainians have a predominantly positive attitude. That is, in the perception of Ukrainians there is no consolidated image of the “American enemy”. On the contrary, Ukrainians demonstrate a differentiated critical attitude towards individual representatives of the USA. Ukrainians do not burn bridges and are open to constructive cooperation with American partners.

Annex 1. Formulation of questions from questionnaire

SAMPLE A

And with which statement about … support for Ukraine do you agree to a greater extent?

RANDOMIZE OPTION ORDER

THE RESPONDENT IS ASKED EITHER OPTION A OR OPTION B

A. Europe

B. The USA

Do you think it is good or bad for Ukraine that Donald Trump is the President of the United States?

SAMPLE Б

How do you feel in general about…

A. …the USA?

B. …the ordinary Americans who are residents of the USA?

C. … the US leadership?