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Russians ‘unfazed’ by sanctions, Americans open to sending NATO troops to Eastern Europe: Report
A large majority of US voters are concerned about the Russian invasion and support sanctioning Moscow even if its results in further inflation.
Amid West’s attempt to force Kremlin to restore the status quo ante in Ukraine, Russians remain “unfazed” by the threat of crippling sanctions on their country and the newly-launched war with the neighbour, according to a new report. Data intelligence company Morning Consult said in its new survey titled ‘Tracking Global Opinion on Russia's Invasion of Ukraine’ that opinions, however, could shift in the coming weeks if domestic anti-war protests continue.
“Russians continue to think their country is generally moving in the right direction,” the survey noted.
While the rise in consumer confidence has waned in recent days as compared to early February, the net trend has been upward over the last month, as per Morning Consult’s index of consumer sentiment for Russia.
In the US, a large majority of voters are concerned about the Russian invasion and support sanctioning Moscow even if its results in further price rise. According to the report, the majority of US voters support cutting off Russia from the SWIFT messaging system and cancelling Nord Stream 2 pipeline. They are also open to sending troops to Eastern Europe as part of a NATO coalition but don’t support unilateral troop deployment.
“When it comes to possible policy compromises to defuse the crisis, voters support a Ukrainian referendum on popular interest in NATO membership but have little enthusiasm for other potential options,” it said.
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The majority of Europeans share the belief that NATO did not do enough to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine and many support comprehensive sanctions targeting political and financial elites. The Europeans are less certain about keeping the doors open to Ukrainian NATO membership.
“Continental Europeans remain sharply divided over keeping NATO’s doors open to Ukrainian membership relative to voters from the U.K. and the U.S. But pluralities of Europeans and Americans support Ukraine’s holding a popular referendum on interest in NATO membership,” the report added.
